The punters were interested only in Porta Fortuna before the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket on Friday, at all rates from an early 6-4 down to 10-11, and they were rewarded with a no-nonsense victory of the kind that every backer wants to see when serious money is involved. Donnacha O’Brien’s filly missed out – narrowly – on a Classic victory in the early part of the season, but she now has three Group One wins to her name and has yet to finish out of the frame in 10 trips to the track.
Porta Fortuna is the antithesis of the needy, highly strung thoroughbred who needs everything to be just so. She was fast from the stalls and quick to settle too, and then surged into a decisive lead inside the final quarter when Ryan Moore asked her to lengthen.
It was Plan A from the first stride to the last, and another fine advertisement for the talents of her trainer, as he seeks to carve out a career beyond the considerable shadows cast by both his record-breaking father, Aidan, and older brother, Joseph, already the winner of two Melbourne Cups, two Classics and multiple Group Ones after less than a decade with a licence.
“Ryan said she has such a good temperament,” O’Brien said. “She pings the gates and then she relaxes. You can make the running with her or sit out the back as she is so easy. She probably wants quick ground but has decent form on slower ground, anywhere from six furlongs to a mile. She is just so uncomplicated.”
Porta Fortuna was the only the second of nine winners of Royal Ascot’s Coronation Stakes to successfully double up in the Falmouth since this race was upgraded to Group One status in 2004, and O’Brien will now plot a route back to the Breeders’ Cup – where Porta Fortuna finished second in the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf last season – for a filly who is in American ownership.
“This filly means a lot,” O’Brien said. “We don’t have a massive number of horses and it’s always about trying to find one good one every year that can represent you in Group Ones. To have one like her who is so easy to train and always brings her A game is a dream.”
Arabian Dusk, a 12-1 chance, took the main supporting race on the card, the Group Two Duchess of Cambridge Stakes, recouping at least a slice of the 525,000gns (£551k) she cost at a Breeze-Up sale earlier this year in the process.
This race was won by the subsequent season’s 1,000 Guineas winner as recently as 2022, when Mawj came home half a length in front of another subsequent Group One winner in Lezoo, but Simon Crisford, who trains Arabian Dusk with his son, Ed, remains unconvinced that she will get a mile next year.
“I’m not sure the Guineas will be the right trip for her but she certainly wasn’t stopping at the end of the race today,” Crisford said. “In fact, she was looking for a bit of company and I think she would have gone again if she had been challenged in the last 50 yards.
“I think we’ll stick to this [six-furlong] trip for the moment and maybe look at the Lowther Stakes at York and the Cheveley Park [in September].”
Oisin Murphy extended his big lead in the race for the Flat jockeys’ championship with an 11-1 handicap double on Involvement, in the opener, and Andrew Balding’s Fairbanks, who ran away with a valuable contest over 14 furlongs after being backed from a morning price of 9-2 to start at 15-8.
It was an impressive trial for the Ebor at York next month and Fairbanks is now among the market leaders for Europe’s most valuable handicap, at around 16-1.
Poet’s chance speaks volumes at York
The 40,000 crowds of the pre-Covid era may be a thing of the past but York will still draw the biggest attendance on “Super Saturday” for the 65th running of the John Smith’s Cup, the longest-standing commercial sponsorship on the Flat.
A low draw was once seen as essential in this race, since the bend out of the back comes up soon after the start. Over the last 20 years, though, it has been won from low, high and middle, and a berth in stall 22 should not detract significantly from Epic Poet’s chance.
Like so many horses before him, Epic Poet (3.10) has thrived since a switch to the David O’Meara stable, and ran a fine race off Saturday’s mark of 97 to finish second at Royal Ascot last month.
The pace on Saturday is sure to be fierce, which will suit his hold-up running-style, and he is an excellent bet at around 8-1 to give his trainer an overdue first success in this much-coveted handicap.
Ascot 1.45 As wide-open as any race on the Super Saturday programme, but Woolhampton has been significantly improved in blinkers this season, has a useful high draw and has the benefit of Oliver Searle’s 5lb claim.
York 2.00 This track and trip always gets the best out of Blue For You and he looks primed for a repeat of last year’s win in this race.
Newmarket 2.12 The extra furlong is a slight question mark for Miss Bodacious but she deserves a chance to back up her impressive handicap/turf debut on this track last month.
Ascot 2.20 Sonny Liston was a head away from carrying top weight to victory in the Royal Hunt Cup last month and the performance is backed up by a strong timefigure so he is worth backing at around 100-30 to continue his improvement up in class.
York 2.35 Lightly-raced Yefimenko is an interesting runner for Ger Lyons’s Irish stable against some in-and-out opposition.
Newmarket 2.50 A return to the level of form Volterra produced to win on the Rowley Mile earlier in the season could be enough.
Newmarket 3.25 The unbeaten Ancient Truth could well make the breakthrough at Group Two level here with the step up to seven furlongs looking sure to suit.
York 3.45 This slight ease in grade could be just what Al Qareem requires after coming up short at Group Two level on his last two starts.
Newmarket 1.40 Flight 2.12 Miss Bodacious 2.50 Volterra 3.25 Ancient Truth 4.00 Aalto (nb) 4.35 Mitbaahy 5.10 Wonder Kid
Ascot 1.45 Woolhampton 2.20 Sonny Liston 2.57 Tiger Mask 3.32 Coco Royale 4.07 Lord Melbourne 4.42 Fair Point 5.17 Pedro Valentino
York 2.00 Blue For Your 2.35 Yefimenko 3.10 Epic Poet (nap) 3.45 Al Qareem 4.15 The Flying Seagull 4.50 Duke Of Verona 5.25 Glendown
Chester 4.20 Hot Team 4.55 Fuji Mountain 5.30 Gibside 6.05 Al Shabab Storm 6.35 General Assembly 7.10 Love Wars
Salisbury 5.40 Arlecchino’s Gift 6.15 Original Outlaw 6.45 National Interest 7.20 Elladonna 7.50 Sneaky Blinder 8.20 Croeso Cymraeg
Hamilton 5.50 Impressor 6.25 Airspeed 7.00 Cold Stare 7.30 Tafsir 8.00 Classy Boy 8.30 Paco’s Pride 9.00 Sycamore Gap
Newmarket 4.00 Aalto has taken his form up a notch over seven furlongs this year, was beaten only by a fast-improving three-year-old last time and looks overpriced at around 11-1.
Newmarket 4.35 Charlie Hills’s Mitbaahy was run off his feet behind stable companion Khaadem at Ascot last time, but with plenty of rain in the forecast, softer ground here could well see a return to the level of form he showed at the Curragh in May. If so, early odds of around 25-1 could look very generous.
