Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's Postponed (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who recorded his sixth-straight win and fourth Group 1 in last week's G1 Juddmonte International, could make an appearance at the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita in November, trainer Roger Varian told At The Races. The 5-year-old entire is set to press on to the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe Oct. 2, for which he is the 4-1 ante-post favourite, but Varian said if all goes well after Chantilly, Postponed could be considered for a stateside tilt.
“He's a great horse and I'm so pleased how he's come out of the [Juddmonte International],” Varian told At The Races. “You're never quite sure when you run him back off a setback. You want that first run back to bring him forward and not send him backwards again.”
“It's certainly brought him forward,” Varian added. “He's come out of the race bouncing. He looks tighter and fresher for the run. I couldn't be more pleased with how he looks since the Juddmonte.”
The Juddmonte International was Postponed's first attempt at Group 1 level over 10 furlongs, his previous top-level wins having all come over 12 furlongs.
“It was important to achieve that Group 1 win over 10 furlongs,” Varian noted. “Whether he needs to go over 10 furlongs again, possibly not. He'll step back up to a mile-and-a- half for a crack at the Arc next time. If he comes through the Arc unscathed, we'd consider a crack at the [GI] Breeders' Cup Turf and I should think that would be it for the year, but we've got a big one to focus on right now.”
Varian also revealed this year's G1 Lockinge S. winner Belardo (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), last seen finishing second to Tepin (Bernstein) in the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot, would have the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. on British Champions Day Oct. 15 as his primary end-of-season target, with a prep race before.
“We'd like him to peak for the QEII, but he's likely to run somewhere before that, whether it's the [G1 Prix de] Moulin on Sept. 11 or whether it's something like the [G1 Prix de la] Foret on Arc day,” Varian told At The Races. “He's training well and looks a picture. He's shown his worth over a mile this year and it would be lovely to win another Group 1 with him. I think he'll be highly competitive wherever he goes next.”
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