Breeders’ Cup Turf: Postponed to be pre-entered

Postponed’s career on the racetrack has been brilliant in recent months in England and France. Off the track, Postponed has been a subject of surprising headlines.

After winning the Group 2 Prix Foy at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on Sept. 13, Postponed was rated as a contender for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe there on Oct. 4. He never made the race. In a shocking move in late September, owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum switched the 4-year-old and many other horses from trainer Luca Cumani to Roger Varian in England.

Postponed has been with Varian for approximately three weeks, enough time for Varian to contemplate a start in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31. On Wednesday, Varian said in a phone interview that Postponed will be pre-entered for the BC Turf next week, but he stopped short of committing to the race.

“It’s an option, for sure,” he said. “It’s not 100 percent. We’ve got a bit more work [to do] with him at home. I’m happy with his condition.”

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If Postponed runs in the BC Turf, he is likely to face the first two finishers of the Arc – the star 3-year-old Golden Horn and Flintshire, who won the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga in August.

Postponed, an Irish-bred by Dubawi, has won 5 of 13 starts and earned $1,623,663. His biggest payday was a nose win in the $1.8 million King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf at Ascot in July. The BC Turf is run at 1 1/2 miles.

In the Prix Foy at 1 1/2 miles on turf, Postponed finished three-quarters of a length in front of Spiritjim, who was 12th in the Arc.

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Varian said that if Postponed misses the BC Turf, he would not race again this year.

Flintshire, Golden Horn, and Postponed are the leading European contenders for the BC Turf.

The race is not expected to include Interpol, the winner of the Northern Dancer Turf at Woodbine on Sept. 13. On Wednesday, trainer Sid Attard said that Interpol will be pointed to Sunday’s Canadian International at Woodbine.