Is Postponed a worthy favourite for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes?
David Metcalf | July 11, 2016
Postponed odds-on to retain King George crown
Postponed is currently 8/13 with Coral for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on Saturday, July 23rd, but is he a worthy red-hot favourite to land the Group 1 contest for a second time?
The colt showed tremendous battling qualities to beat Eagle Top in the race 12 months ago when trained by Luca Cumani and has since won all four of his starts since joining Roger Varian.
They include an easy three length success in the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic where Postponed travelled ominously well throughout before showing a smart turn of foot to impressively beat Duramente.
Stunning success in Coronation Cup
The five-year-old backed that up with a stunning success in the Group 1 Coronation Cup at Epsom when last seen in action and arguably putting in the best performance of his career so far.
After tanking along on the heels of the leaders, Postponed only had to be nudged into the lead a furlong from home by jockey Andrea Atzeni before forging clear to beat Found by 4 1/2 lengths.
It was an awesome display to beat such a top class filly with consummate ease and one which oozed class.
Judged on the manner of that victory, Postponed is clearly right at the top of his game at present and one of the top , if not the best, middle-distance performers in Europe.
Versatile as regards ground
Although ideally suited by fast ground, the son of Dubawi has winning form with cut in the ground so is versatile as regards going.
His ability to travel strongly before unleashing a potent turn of foot are also a deadly combination, and Postponed has built up a tremendous rapport with Atzeni, who has partnered him to seven of his eight career successes.
Postponed’s officially rating of 124 is also the highest among the entries so, taking everything into account, his short odds may well be fully justified.
This horse holds outstanding claims of becoming the first since Swain in 1997/98 to win back-to-back runnings of the 1m 4f showpiece.
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