Postponed missed the King George but could target the Breeders’ Cup this fall. (Photo credit: © Martin Applegate | Dreamstime.com)
Postponed was a very short priced favourite to come out victorious in one of Europe’s biggest races on Saturday July 23rd but owing to an unfortunate dirty scope, the Roger Varian trained five-year-old gelding had to be scratched from his big mid-season target.
For US racing fans, this could be a blessing in disguise because it almost certainly opens the door for this world class horse to take the trip across the Atlantic Ocean in November for a tilt at the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita.
Having developed into a successful globetrotter with massively impressive wins in Meydan during their Spring Carnival, Postponed has proven he possesses the necessary resilience to travel well, which of course will stand him in good stead if taking the long distance trip toward California at the end of the year. In actual fact, Postponed has now raced Internationally on three occasions and is unbeaten in three starts whilst on tour, a record connections will be keen to maintain.
The first of those was in the Qatar Prix Foy at Longchamp, where he ran out a workmanlike winner of that Group 2 contest after landing the King George at Ascot. That was touted as a stepping stone toward the Arc de Triomphe, a race he didn’t make it to and he wasn’t seen until reappearing in Dubai on March 5th in another Group 2 contest.
The 2015-2016 winter break seemed to bring about a surge in improvement in this imposing son of Dubawi, because despite seemingly facing opponents with inferior form, he looked to have a newly found electricity about his racing style as he ran out a deeply impressive winner.
Next up was the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic on Dubai World Cup night, where Japanese star Duramente was the elephant in the room and the 4/5 favourite’s biggest threat. But once again Postponed travelled with consummate ease under Andrea Atzeni and powered clear of Duramente inside the final 400 metres with a sustained and remorseless gallop to the finish line. Next time out in the Coronation Cup at Epsom, Postponed slammed 2015 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Found by four lengths in eye-catching fashion, making a clear statement to his domestic rivals and considering how good we know Found is, this was perhaps his best performance to date. Hong Kong, Japan and indeed Paris will be calling for him to race there, but we can certainly look forward to this world class racehorse gracing US shores very soon.
Meanwhile, bookmaker Paddy Power have installed California Chrome as their 4/1 ($5.00) favourite for the Breeders’ Cup Classic and the popular Irish company, who give their new customers a cool Paddy Power free bet when they open a new account, are not taking any chances with the Dubai World Cup winner, who has been kept under wraps since his Meydan romp. The next few months promise to be a hugely exciting build up to Santa Anita and we can’t wait to see how it all unfolds, let’s hope all horses stay happy and healthy!
