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‘She’s Been a Superstar For Us This Year’: Fortuna Out to Favour The Brave

ARCADIA, USA–Bar those who have raced recently in the US, the European horses arrived at Santa Anita on Sunday evening, with their trainers mostly following on over the next few days. One early bird at the track on Sunday morning was Donnacha O'Brien, who is entitled to want to soak up as much of the atmosphere as he can this week as he has brought a Group 1-winning juvenile to be his first runner at the Breeders' Cup.

Only Bob Baffert has accrued more prize-money earnings than Donnacha's father Aidan O'Brien in the 39 previous runnings of the Breeders' Cup, with the Irishman's 16 winners having contributed towards a haul of more than $30 million. Brother Joseph O'Brien, too, has his name on the board with one winner from five starters to date. That success, in the Breeders' Cup Mile also at Santa Anita back in 2019, came with Iridessa (Ire) (Ruler Of The World {Ire}), whose success was followed up in the same race the next year by her half-brother Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}), trained by Aidan.

What made those two victories all the more special was the fact that the siblings were bred by Aidan and Annemarie O'Brien under their Whisperview Trading banner, and now it is the turn of his Donnacha to attempt to secure another Breeders' Cup winner for his parents as breeders with Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio). More importantly, however, the filly will be carrying the hopes of a large number of American owners in the Juvenile Fillies Turf on Friday.

“We've been coming to the Breeders' Cup since as along as I can remember, and I've been lucky enough to ride at a few, but this is my first one as a trainer, so it's exciting. I haven't been to the Breeders' Cup in the last few years because I haven't had a runner, so it's nice to be back,” said O'Brien, the former dual champion jockey in Ireland who retired from race-riding in 2019

Porta Fortuna remains confined to barracks until being allowed on to the main track on Tuesday morning.

“She travelled well and is in good form, and seems to have settled in well,” he continued. “She's been a superstar for us this year. To win at Ascot was fantastic, but she had two wins before Ascot, so to still be going, and to have run in three Group 1s in a row, and against the boys as well, she's danced every dance and she's a very tough filly. We're very lucky to have her, she's been great for us.”

That she has. From her maiden win at the Curragh on April 16, Porta Fortuna went straight into Pattern company for her first run in the colours of her new team of owners to win the G3 Fillies' Sprint S. at Naas, enjoying the perfect tune up before her first spot of travelling to Ascot for the G3 Albany S. Come August, she was chasing home Bucanero Fuerte (Fr) to be second in the G1 Phoenix S. before taking third in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. Finally she secured her own Group 1 success on her return to Britain for the Cheveley Park S. at Newmarket. She steps up now for a tight, turning mile, the first time she has gone beyond seven furlongs.

Her trainer reported, “She has taken every run very well. She's not a filly who needs a lot of work at home. She's not difficult to train, her races kind of bring her along.

“She is owned by Steve Weston, Barry Fowler, Dean Reeves and Medallion Thoroughbreds, as well, which is a big syndicate. They are all American, and from the moment they bought her this was the dream and it has just worked out incredibly well. It's great to be able to bring her over to the US for them.”

The success of Porta Fortuna has also prompted greater involvement in O'Brien's stable from the ownership group, who bought into the filly through agent Mark McStay.

He added, “They bought her after she won a maiden, and they have bought some yearlings for me this year.

“In Ireland there's a small pool of owners, but internationally there's obviously a big interest in racing. This isn't something we've done on purpose, we were just lucky enough to get involved with these guys and it's brilliant to have some success for them.”

The one question that remains is how Porta Fortuna will cope with a two-turn mile after the wide open expanses of the Curragh plains and Newmarket Heath.

“We won't be sure until we go and do it, so we'll see,” said O'Brien. “It's going to be a lot different for her. Every race she's had so far has been on a straight track but she trains round a left-handed bend every day at home, so she's well used to turning left. She's obviously going up in trip as well, but on tight tracks, a mile around here is going to be like seven in Europe, and she has stayed seven before. We're not sure until we try but I feel she should handle it.”

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California Regulation Banning Licensees From Unsanctioned Racing Set To Go Into Effect Jan. 1

An update to California Horse Racing Board Rule 1902 aimed at discouraging participation in unsanctioned horse racing will go into effect Jan. 1. The regulation change was approved by the CHRB in April and was handed off to California's Office of Administrative Law. That office approved the change on Oct. 13 with an effective date at the start of the new year.

Rule 1902 deals with conduct detrimental to horse racing and will now include prohibition of “participation in or presence at any non-recognized race meeting where racing occurred.”

In March, the CHRB discussed its response to welfare concerns about unsanctioned racing, which goes on with no drug testing, mandated pre-race veterinary exams, and no requirements for on-site veterinary (or human) emergency medical care. This publication provided the CHRB photographic evidence earlier this year of CHRB licensees participating in unsanctioned races (also known commonly as bush races or brush races) around the country, and an animal rights group made a presentation before the organization in December 2022.

Read our investigative report on illegal racing, and why it's relevant to state and federal animal health and racing authorities.

The American Horse Council released the following statement in response to the approval from the OAL–

“The AHC applauds the California Horse Racing Board for adopting a new regulation that bans licensees from participating in illegal, unsanctioned horse racing,” said Julie Broadway, President of AHC. “Our organization has been educating state law enforcement and regulators on the dangers of illegal, unsanctioned horse racing for many years since the scope of the issue was brought to our attention. It is encouraging to see progress and we hope other states will act.

“The harm caused to horses at these illegal races is significant. There are numerous documented reports of horses being injured and dying at these races due to injections of illegal and inappropriate substances, abuse, and exhaustion. In addition to the crime of animal cruelty, further harm occurs in the form of disease transmission. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has found that clusters of equine infectious anemia and equine piroplasmosis in racehorses are often associated with unsanctioned racing. These diseases are easily transmitted and can infect working and pleasure horses across the entire United States.

“What is of equal concern are the serious consequences for the health and well-being of humans. Patrons and jockeys are at risk in these unsafe environments because these venues are magnets for additional criminal activity.”

“The AHC will continue to urge states to move more aggressively to shut these tracks down,” Broadway concluded.

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One Last Dance for Consistent Onesto in Breeders’ Cup Turf

ARCADIA, USA–Whisper it, and a few people have been doing so since the huddle started growing at Clockers' Corner over the last few mornings, but Onesto (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) should not be overlooked in a potentially red-hot running of the GI Breeders' Cup Turf on Saturday.

On Monday morning his trainer Fabrice Chappet was one of the few to be found trackside just before sun up at Santa Anita. Though he is fielding his first runner at the Breeders' Cup, he is no stranger to American racing, having worked for a number of years for John Nerud, albeit on the other side of the country. Chappet also saddled Blue Panis (Fr) to be second in the GII Oak Tree Derby at the now-defunct Hollywood Park back in 2010.

A neat chestnut, on the small side compared to a number of Frankel's runners, Onesto is better travelled than many of his fellow competitors, even if that is not immediately apparent from this bare racing record. Born in Ireland at Coolmore, he was sent to Tattersalls in England as a yearling and, retained by his Kentucky-based breeder Diamond Creek Farm at 185,000gns, he was then exported to Florida, mid-pandemic, where he was prepared for the Ocala Spring breeze-up sale.

Hubert Guy signed the ticket there at $535,000, and Onesto returned to Europe, this time to France, the fourth country in his young life, where he settled into Chappet's Chantilly stable.

Lightly raced but a winner at two, by the spring of his three-year-old season he landed a key Classic trial in the G2 Prix Greffuhle and though the luck of the draw did not go his way in the Prix du Jockey Club, he still managed fifth, before landing the biggest win of his career in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris.

“Onesto has been very consistent and has always run good races except this year in the Irish Champion,” said Chappet. “He hasn't been lucky all his life, like in the French Derby, but he has always run well, including in the Japan Cup last year. He was seventh but again quite unlucky. So he really has been consistent except for some reason this year in Leopardstown, but then he came back nicely in the Arc.”

Third in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, less than two lengths off the winner Ace Impact (Fr), who has already been retired to stud, Onesto has his own stallion berth booked at France's historic Haras d'Etreham, which has been one of his owners for most of his racing career, along with a group which includes Jean-Etienne Dubois and Gerard-Augustin Normand.

Chappet continued, “He looks happy and he travelled well so I'm sure he's going to run a good race. We have to wait for the draw, and he's a horse you want to wait with. We saw what to do in the Arc and we saw what not to do in the Irish Champion this year, because he ran very well in that last year.”

On the horse's impending retirement to stud, he added, “This is what it's about. He's a four-year-old, and we have had two horses going to stud this year, as we had [G1 Prix Jean Prat winner] Good Guess as well, so for a boutique hotel like ours, 80 horses, I am very proud of that.”

Like most of the incoming European contingent, Onesto will be allowed out on to the track on Tuesday, but don't expect to see him scorching the turf.

“We had to van him from Chantilly to Newmarket, and then he flew from there to Shannon, and then from Ireland to here. He'll trot tomorrow. It's been a long trip so we'll just go easy all week,” said his trainer.

For a seasoned world traveller, that should present no problem for Onesto, who has one last chance to star in the land of his breeder. And he would not be the first member of his family to feature prominently at the Breeders' Cup either. His Juddmonte-bred dam Onshore (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is a daughter of Kalima (GB) (Kahyasi {Ire}), herself a full-sister to Hasili (GB) whose daughter Banks Hill (GB) (Danehill) won the Filly & Mare Turf in 2001, a feat followed four years later by her full-sister Intercontinental (GB).

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Kentucky Derby Museum Hosts 125 Different FFA Groups

The Future Farmers of America (FFA) convention is being held in Indianapolis, IN and 125 different groups have booked tours in the Kentucky Derby museum. With almost 6,000 expected visitors this week, the 40% increase compared to standard weekly October attendance has proven it a popular destination for attendees.

“FFA members represent the future of the Thoroughbred horse racing and agriculture industries, so it's always exciting to host them in the Museum,” said Pat Armstong, Kentucky Derby Museum President and CEO. “The fact that the number of FFA groups choosing to visit keeps increasing year-over-year proves that the Museum offers unique and interesting content for these students.”

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