Postponed, the clear favourite for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly on Sunday, fared best of the market leaders in Friday’s draw when he was placed in stall seven, in the middle of the 16-strong field. Roger Varian’s five-year-old, who is unbeaten in four races this season including three at Group One level, was cut from 2-1 to a best price of 7-4 as a result, while Japan’s Makahiki, who is drawn wide in stall 14, was pushed out a point to 6-1. Frankie Dettori will also face a challenge aboard Order Of St George, as the Ascot Gold Cup winner will start on the wide outside in stall 16.
Found, the choice of Ryan Moore from Aidan O’Brien’s three runners, also has a double-figure draw in 12, while her stable companion Highland Reel is on her inside in 11. With Left Hand, the Prix Vermeille winner, alongside Order Of St George in 15, only the Derby winner Harzand, in six, is drawn lower than Postponed among horses priced shorter than 20-1.
Postponed is an uncomplicated, consistent horse who had enough speed to win the Group One International Stakes over 10 furlongs at York last time out. His last defeat was seven races ago, in June 2015, and he has progressed through the season so smoothly that the uproar that surrounded his sudden switch to Varian’s stable from Luca Cumani little more than 12 months ago has been largely forgotten.
That is a testament to Varian, who took delivery of Postponed when Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, his owner, fell out with Cumani last September, and it typifies the trainer and his quiet, even-tempered approach to the business of training winners. Nor has anything changed in the runup to Sunday’s race, which promises to be the biggest afternoon of Varian’s career.
“To be honest, we wouldn’t know that’s it’s Arc week here as we’ve so much else going on,” Varian said on Friday. “We’ve got x number of other horses that are racing every day, galloping every morning and preparing for races, the days are busy and we’ve got the Tattersalls Book One yearling sale on the horizon next week. It doesn’t leave a lot of time to worry about what’s coming up on Sunday.
“I should think that the reality of having the Arc favourite will probably sink in on Sunday, no doubt it will be a mixture of excitement and nerves, but this week is just like any other. That’s good in a way, it keeps the mind focused on plenty of other stuff.”
Varian is not the sort to allow himself an idle moment but if he has ever daydreamed about winning an Arc, he almost certainly imagined it at Longchamp, the race’s traditional home, and not Chantilly, magnificent though its setting in front of the famous chateau and grandes écuries undoubtedly is.
Arc weekend has been a fixture in the diaries of thousands of British and Irish racing fans for decades, and more recently a big draw for Japanese fans too as the country pursues an elusive first success in the race. This year’s crowd will be capped at 40,000, however, while Longchamp is being rebuilt, and the use of temporary facilities may lead to a very different race-day experience for those who make the trip.
On the track itself, however, Varian does not expect the switch from Longchamp to Chantilly to make a significant difference.
“It’s not the same as Longchamp, but it’s not a world apart,” Varian said. “It’s a right-handed Grade One track, a shortish straight with a stiff finish, and Postponed is a versatile horse. I leave that sort of thing to Andrea [Atzeni, his regular jockey], but I can’t really see us blaming the track if he doesn’t win.”
Postponed has raced only twice since March, winning the Coronation Cup at Epsom in June and the International two months later, but the trainer saw no need to send him to Chantilly on Arc Trials day three weeks ago. The punters who will send him off as their warm favourite on Sunday will hope that it is a sign of Varian’s confidence that Postponed is exactly where he wants him.
“It took a while to get to know him, and probably vice versa,” Varian says. “I don’t think a horse settles in straight away, although he only moved across town and he was largely using the same facilities that he would have used with Luca. A horse has to settle into a new environment and culture, and perhaps a slightly different diet, as every trainer does things differently.
“I think the important thing when you inherit a high-profile horse is to look at him as a blank canvas and form your own opinion. If you study too much what he’s done before, you can get led into a feeling or opinion that might not be your own.”
The canvas is no longer blank, and it would take just one more victory on Sunday afternoon to turn it into a masterpiece.
