DEPENDING on who you believe, the state of the ground is either the single most important factor in determining the outcome of horse races, or vastly over-rated in this respect and too often used as a ready excuse for a poor performance, or even for ducking a challenge altogether.

The truth, as so often, probably lies between the two extremes, but both schools of thought are likely to cite recent events as justification.

This year’s star performer Golden Horn was due to run in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot last Saturday but was pulled out at the 11th hour due to ground which his trainer thought was too soft.

Gleneagles was not even declared for the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood for the same reason.

Ironically, times show that the testing nature of the surface had been overstated in both cases. This year’s King George was faster than some recent runnings on good and on good to firm going, and the first-day action at Goodwood pointed to a surface that was probably good rather than softer.

One other reason why the King George time was so quick was that the race was run at a fast gallop, something which Golden Horn had dealt very well with at Epsom in the Derby, a race in which the overall time was actually more than a second slower than that recorded in the King George.

Few are likely to claim that a Golden Horn-less King George was vintage, but in time terms it was one of the better recent ones and one of the best time efforts of the campaign so far.

Postponed registered a 123 timefigure in edging out Eagle Top (also 123), and sectionals suggest the head-bobbing result was the right way round given that the Luca Cumani-trained colt raced closer to that strong pace than his main rival.

Third-placed Romsdal (117 timefigure) was the one who had set that pace, and he deserves to be rated closer to the first two.

He has won only a maiden and a listed contest to date but surely has a Group 2 or Group 3 in him, especially if ridden a shade more conservatively than he was here.