Prize Money sinks Postponed at Meydan

Roger Varian’s Postponed (2/5 favourite) was last seen finishing fifth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and was using this race as a warm-up to the Dubai Sheema Classic on World Cup night.

Postponed won that race and his warm-up last season, but will go into the $4million contest on the back of a defeat this time around after Prize Money barged his way down the outside under Adrie de Vries.

Settled in midfield by Andrea Atzeni, Postponed raced keenly during the first half of the race even though his jockey had plenty of cover around him.

As they rounded the turn for home Atzeni pulled Postponed off the rail, but he struggled for room as de Vries kept him penned in amongst horses as Prize Money had a clear route on the outside.

Atzeni was forced to switch to the rail and Postponed found plenty for pressure, but it wasn’t enough to get back on terms with Prize Money.

Another Godolphin horse, Emotionless, was third at 12/1.

Varian said afterwards that he is expecting his stable star to raise his game for his defence of the Sheema Classic on March 25.

He said: "It was a messy race and I think he just ran a bit rusty on what was his first run for five months.

"He didn't look as sharp as he was for this race last year. Having said that, with a clear run I think he'd have won, even if he wouldn't have been as impressive as a lot of people might have expected.

"We're disappointed to get beaten, but not discouraged. Tonight wasn't his big gig, that will come in three weeks' time.

"We left a bit to work on and I'm sure he'll improve."

There was a British success in the other Group One as Atzeni conjured a late run out of Roger Charlton's Decorated Knight to claim the Jebel Hatta.

A narrow winner of the Winter Derby Trial at Lingfield last month, Decorated Knight was the 2/1 favourite stepped up to the highest level for the first time in his career.

The son of Galileo was still a long way back rounding the home turn, but once in clear daylight, he fairly motored home to get up and beat Folkswood in the shadow of the post by a neck.

The William Haggas-trained Muffri'Ha was also doing his best work at the finish and was a close-up third. 

Charlton said: "He did well because the race didn't unfold as we'd have liked. There wasn't much pace in the early part of the race and he ended up a bit further back than we wanted to be, but thankfully the gap came and he did well to get there.

"I think he'd have been pretty unlucky if he hadn't got up and it didn't look certain until the last 50 yards or so, but he's very courageous and has done it well.

"Hopefully he'll stay there now and go for the Dubai Turf on World Cup night. He hasn't got an invite yet, but hopefully he'll have one now.

"He's a lightly-raced horse who should have won his last five races really. We won the Dubai Turf a few years ago with Cityscape (2012) and it would be nice to win it again as it's worth a lot of money."