Porta Fortuna on track for Breeders’ Cup after flowing Falmouth success | Horse racing

Before Friday’s Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket, bettors were only interested in Porta Fortuna, with odds ranging from 6-4 to 10-11, but with big money on the line, she was rewarded with the kind of no-nonsense win that all bettors want to see. Donnacha O’Brien’s filly narrowly missed out on a classic win earlier in the season but now has three Group 1 wins and has never finished outside the bracket in 10 races.

Porta Fortuna is the exact opposite of a nervous, frustrated thoroughbred who needs everything to be perfect: she was fast off the start, settled quickly and, when Ryan Moore told her to extend the distance, sprinted out to a decisive lead within the final quarter.

It was all planned from start to finish and was yet another demonstration of the talent of a trainer attempting to carve out a career beyond the large shadows cast by both his record-breaking sire Aidan and his brother Joseph, who won two Melbourne Cups, two Classics and multiple Group 1 titles in less than a decade since obtaining his licence.

“Ryan said he’s got a great temperament,” O’Brien said. “He knocks through the gate and then relaxes. He’s very easy, so you can either run with him or wait behind him. He likes a fast track but he’s also good on slower tracks from six furlongs to a mile. He’s a very simple horse.”

Porta Fortuna is only the second of nine winners of Royal Ascot’s Coronation Stakes to win back-to-back Falmouth Stakes since the race was promoted to Group 1 in 2004, and O’Brien plans to return the American-owned mare (Porta Fortuna was runner-up in last season’s Juvenile Fillies Turf) to the Breeders’ Cup.

“This mare means a lot,” O’Brien said. “We don’t have that many horses and we try to find one good horse each year that we can represent us in Group 1 races. It’s a dream to have a horse like her who is so easy to train and who always performs at the top of her game.”

Arabiandusk was odds of 12-1 to win the card’s main race, the Group Two Duchess of Cambridge Stakes, and recoup at least some of the 525,000 guineas (£551,000) he won at the Breeze Up Sale earlier this year.

The race was won as recently as 2022 by next season’s 1,000 Guineas winner Mousse, who beat future Group 1 winner Les Zoos by half a length, but Simon Crisford, who trains Arabiadusk with his son Ed, is unsure whether the horse will run the mile next year.

“I don’t know if the Guineas is the right race for her but I don’t think she would have stopped at the end of the race today,” Crisford said. “In fact she needed a bit of company and I think if she had been challenged in the last 50 yards she would have run again.”

“We’re going to stick with this. [six-furlong] Maybe I should just take a trip and check out the Lowther Stakes at York and Cheveley Park. [in September].”

Oisin Murphy opened up a huge lead in the flat jockeys’ championship race with an 11-1 handicap double win over Involvement in the opening race, while Andrew Balding’s Fairbanks, who started at 15-8 despite being 9-2 in the morning, ran alone over the precious 14 furlong race.

Following an impressive Ebor Racecourse trial at York next month, Fairbanks is currently one of the market leaders in Europe’s most valuable handicap races, with odds of around 16-1.

The Poet’s Chance Says a Lot About York

Pre-Covid crowds of 40,000 may be a thing of the past, but York Racecourse will still attract its biggest crowd yet for “Super Saturday”, the 65th running of the John Smith’s Cup, the longest-running commercial sponsorship at a Flat racecourse.

A low post was once considered essential in this race because of the curve from the rear coming in right at the start, but over the past 20 years this race has been won from low, high and middle posts, and post 22 should not seriously hurt Epic Poet’s chances.

Like many horses before him, Epic poet (3.10) The horse has been in good form since moving to David O’Meara’s stable and finished second at Royal Ascot last month with a respectable 97 points in the Saturday race.

The pace will undoubtedly be fierce on Saturday, which will suit his hold-up style of running, and the stakes are extremely high, at around 8-1, to give the trainer a long-awaited first win in this highly coveted handicap.

Ascot 1.45 All the races on Super Saturday look to be close races, Woolhampton He has improved greatly this season with blinkers, has a handy hydro and is the benefit of Oliver Searle’s 5lb claim.

York 2.00 This course and the trip will always be the best Blue for you And he looks poised to repeat his victory from last year in this race.

Newmarket 2.12 The extra furlong is Miss Bodacious But she deserves the chance to repeat her impressive performance in her handicap/turf debut at this track last month.

Ascot 2.20 Sonny Liston He came close to winning last month’s Royal Hunt Cup when carrying top weight and his performance has been backed up by some strong times, so he’s worth a bet at around 100-30 to move up a class and continue to improve.

York 2.35 Little racing experience Efimenko This will be an interesting field for the Irish stable led by Jair Lyons, with some tough rivals up and down the line.

Newmarket 2.50 Return to form level Volterra A win in the Rowley Mile earlier in the season should be enough.

Newmarket 3.25 Undefeated Ancient Truth A step up to seven furlongs certainly seems suited and he is likely to make a breakthrough here at Group Two level.

York 3.45 This slight easing of the slope is what Al Karim He will need to live up to this demand after falling short at Group 2 level in his last two starts.

Newmarket 4.00 Aalto He’s been in much better form over seven furlongs this year, only being beaten last time by a rapidly improving three-year-old, so his odds look long at 11-1.

Newmarket 4.35 Charlie Hills Mitobahi He ran out behind stablemate Kaadem last time out at Ascot but with more rain in the forecast and a softer surface it is likely he will return to the level of form he showed at the Curragh in May and early odds of around 25-1 may look quite generous.