Postponed shines on his comeback in Dubai

Andrea Atzeni returns victorious on board Postponed in last year’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Image courtesy of Racingfotos.com.

Postponed put down his marker for this year’s QIPCO British Champions Series with a slick success in the Dubai City Of Gold at Meydan on Saturday.

Last season’s QIPCO-sponsored King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner travelled powerfully under Andrea Atzeni in the mile and a half contest and was not extended to beat Dariyan by three lengths.

“He felt very good,” Atzeni said after the group two event. “This was like riding a piece of work.”

His next run will be in the Sheema Classic, back at Meydan on World Cup night (March 26). After that Roger Varian, his trainer, will turn his attention to races in the middle-distance category of the Champions Series.

The King George is again an obvious target but Postponed is not short of pace, which means the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (at Royal Ascot on June 15) and Coral-Eclipse Stakes (Sandown Park on July 2) – both over two furlongs shorter – are also likely to come into the reckoning.

The meeting at Meydan also featured an impressive victory by the Charlie Appleby-trained Tryster in the Jebel Hatta – setting up a fascinating clash with Solow in the Dubai World Cup Turf on Saturday fortnight.

“I’ve never ridden a horse that has a turn of foot like him," William Buick, who partnered Tryster, said after bringing his mount from last to first in the nine-runner affair. Some compliment from a jockey who has enjoyed victories aboard Series’ stars such as Dream Ahead, The Fugue, Nathaniel and Golden Horn.

In the five-furlong Sprint, nine-year-old Sole Power shaped as if retaining all his zest when beaten a nose and a short head. Medicean Man (sixth) and Goldream (seventh), who dominated the finish of the King’s Stands Stakes last summer, were unable to land a blow.