By Kelsey Riley
Trainer Roger Varian saddled his first runner as a licensed trainer at the Dubai World Cup carnival five years ago, and the Newmarket-based conditioner on Saturday recorded a first-ever win on the world's richest card of racing when sending Postponed (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) out to win the $6 million G1 Dubai Sheema Classic. Favoured off the back of a victory in the G2 Dubai City of Gold on Super Saturday at Meydan Mar. 5, Postponed patiently took back under Andrea Atzeni as Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire) took up the lead into the first turn. That front runner pulled about three lengths clear turning into the backstretch, with Atzeni positioning Postponed in the two path on the heels of Gailo Chop (Fr) (Deportivo {GB}) and Last Impact (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) at the head of the second flight of runners. Highland Reel's lead was severely cut down by the time the field began to round the far turn, with Gailo Chop drawing alongside the G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase winner, and Postponed stuck on the French raider's heels. Swinging three-wide into the lane with Duramente (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) in hot pursuit, Postponed hit the lead at the 300-metre mark and got to the wire a comfortable two lengths ahead of the Japanese raider. Duramente had caused some drama before the start, throwing a shoe that unable to be replaced and therefore running with just three shoes.
Saturday, Meydan, UAE
DUBAI SHEEMA CLASSIC PRESENTED BY LONGINES-G1, $6,000,000, MEY, 3-26, NH4yo/up & SH3yo/up, 2410mT, 2:26.97, gd.
1–POSTPONED (IRE), 126, h, 5, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Ever Rigg (GB), by Dubai Destination
2nd Dam: Bianca Nera (GB), by Salse
3rd Dam: Birch Creek (GB), by Carwhite (Ire)
(360,000gns yrl '12 TATOCT) O-Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al
Maktoum; B-St Albans Bloodstock LLP (IRE); T-Roger Varian;
J-Andrea Atzeni. $3,600,000. Lifetime Record: Hwt. Older
Horse-Eng at 11-14f, G1SW-Eng, GSW-Fr, G1SP-Ire, 15-7-2-4,
$5,373,663. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Werk Nick Rating: A++.[bullet ad=”itm-g1″]2–Duramente (Jpn), 125, c, 4, King Kamehameha (Jpn)–Admire
Groove (Jpn), by Sunday Silence. O-Sunday Racing Co Ltd;
B-Northern Racing (JPN); T-Noriyuki Hori. $1,200,000.
3–Last Impact (Jpn), 126, h, 6, Deep Impact (Jpn)–Superior
Pearl (Jpn), by Timber Country. O-Silk Racing Co Ltd; B-Shadai
Corporation Inc (JPN); T-Katsuhiko Sumii. $600,000.
Margins: 2, 1HF, 3/4. Also Ran: Highland Reel (Ire), One and Only (Jpn), Dariyan (Fr), Gailo Chop (Fr), Sheikhzayedroad (GB), The Blue Eye (GB).
Click for the Racing Post result, the AM Wager PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO.
Postponed, the second foal out of the winning Ever Rigg–a daughter of G1 Moyglare S. winner Bianca Nera (GB) (Salse)–received his early education from Newmarket conditioner Luca Cumani. The winner of one of his three starts as a 2-year-old in 2013, Postponed was third in the G3 Craven S. and G3 Tercentenary S. early in his 3-year-old campaign before signing off that year with wins in the Listed Glasgow S. at Hamilton and York's G2 Great Voltigeur S. Second in the G2 Gordon Richards S. last April, Postponed finished third, beaten a half-length behind Al Kazeem (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh before filling the same position in Royal Ascot's G2 Hardwicke S. in June. The bay exploded into the big leagues with a nose victory in Ascot's G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. in July, and traveled to France to add the G2 Prix Foy before season's end. Shortly after that score, owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid al Maktoum shocked the racing community when removing all his horses from Cumani's care, placing them with Varian. Postponed's first outing for the Kremlin House conditioner was his three-length City of Gold tour-de-force, and the 5-year-old confirmed his status as one of the best of his division anywhere in the world Saturday.
“To win here tonight is right up there with the best, and it is great for the team back home,” said Varian. “This is one of the biggest nights of the calendar on the global stage. The prize money is nice, but it is winning these big races which excites us all.”
“I was quietly confident watching the race, as tactically Ryan Moore [on Highland Reel] set an even gallop, and I was happy with our position,” added Varian. “I knew that if he picked up in the same way as when winning his prep race here three weeks ago, then it would take a good horse to get past him. He is a heck of a good horse as a King George winner. He is versatile and professional and ticks all the right boxes. I imagine the King George will again be his mid-summer target, with a run or two before.”
Atzeni, who turned 25 Saturday, said, “What a way to celebrate a birthday. I rode him work on Wednesday and knew after that it would take a good one to beat him. It is massive for me to win here for Roger, all the team at home and for Sheikh Mohammed Bin Obaid.”
Jockey Mirco Demuro suggested the lost shoe affected the performance of the dual Japanese Classic-winning Duramente.
“It was very unfortunate he ripped a shoe off before the race and they could not replace it,” the rider said. “He wasn't comfortable on the ground with just three shoes, but still ran really well and was beaten by an excellent horse.”
Postponed's dam Ever Rigg–a 1.5 million-guinea buyback at Tattersalls December last year–has a 2-year-old Nathaniel (Ire) filly named God Given (GB) and a yearling colt by Dubawi's Classic-winning son Makfi (GB).
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