Pacemaker for Postponed in Prix Foy at Longchamp

Postponed will be aided by a pacemaker as he takes in the Prix Foy at Longchamp on Sunday ahead of his bid for the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe next month.

With races in France notorious for their lack of a decent gallop, trainer Luca Cumani decided to saddle Roseburg in the Group Two over the full Arc course and distance of a mile and a half to give Postponed every chance of running to form.

Postponed won the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes on soft ground and Cumani is not concerned about the prospect of some ease in the going.

"The weather forecast for Paris suggests that the ground is likely to be no worse than good to soft and that will not inconvenience Postponed," the Newmarket handler told his website.

"There is, disappointingly, no suitable Arc trial to run him in over here on the turf, so we had to look abroad and take the unusual step (for us) of declaring a pacemaker given that races in France, as a rule, tend to be slowly run affairs left to the French jockeys.

"As the Prix Foy is not open to geldings we were rather limited by the pacemaker we could take.

"Ajman Bridge being the obvious but ineligible choice, meaning that Roseburg will be an able substitute and will be ridden by Kevin Stott who rides a lot of pace-making work at home.

"Hopefully all our forward planning will pay off."

Cumani reports the four-year-old to be ready for action for the first time since his epic Ascot triumph in July.

He said: "I'm delighted with him. He had a mini break for two or three weeks after the King George and then we gradually picked him up.

"His work has been excellent and he's in great form.

"Hopeful is the best we can put it for the Arc because it's going to be tough if everybody is there who is supposed to be there. It's going to be one of the best renewals of the Arc for the last few years.

"We are very proud of him. We think he's a good horse. He's one of the most beautiful horses you could set your eyes on and he has the ability to match."

The Foy has attracted a field of eight with Dolniya, trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre, likely to provide strong opposition to Postponed.

Fifth in last year's Arc, Dolniya won the Dubai Sheema Classic in March and has been placed in the Coronation Cup and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in her two subsequent starts.

Frankie Dettori will be aboard the Alain Couetil-trained Spiritjim with the octet completed by Bathyrhon, Kerosin, Free Port Lux and Baino Hope.