3 minute read
The Donnacha O’Brien-trained Porta Fortuna could head stateside for the Breeders’ Cup at the end of the season.
Owned by a group of American clients, Porta Fortuna recorded a memorable first victory for O'Brien in the Group 2 Albany Stakes. It was also a landmark 80th success at the Royal meeting for Frankie Dettori. Both Porta Fortuna and the second-placed filly Matrika were bred by the O'Brien family as part of their Whisperview Trading operation.
The form of the Albany Stakes has since received a boost with Matrika winning the Group 2 Airlie Stud Stakes at the Curragh. The third and fourth-placed fillies, Soprano and Persian Dreamer, both hold entries for the Group 2 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket on Friday.
"She's very good and has come out of the race well. We gave her an easy week after the race to freshen her up and she's back in full work now and everything is going well," said O'Brien.
"She's very straightforward and I suppose she's a dream filly to ride as she has plenty of pace, travels well, has a turn of foot and also keeps going at the end as well. She's just a very smart filly.
"We're thinking of going for the Phoenix at the minute, the Group One at the Curragh. We'll have to take on colts, but we'd like to give her another run at six. We'll put her in the Lowther [York, August 24] as well as a back-up, that's about a week or two afterwards."
"I suppose later on in the year the targets will be races like the Cheveley Park [Newmarket, September 30] and the Breeders' Cup.
"We've got a few more runs to go before we get there so I'm sure we'll learn a bit more about her by the time, but the obvious one would be the Juvenile Fillies' Turf [Santa Anita, November 3] unless for some reason we thought we would go back in trip to the [Juvenile Turf] Sprint.
"The Breeders' Cup was always the main aim for her at the end of the year, but she's got a few races to go first and we'll take each one at a time."