G3 Ballylinch Stud "Priory Belle" 1000 Guineas Trial S.

Porta Fortuna Has Classic Trial Option at Leopardstown

The G3 Ballylinch Stud 'Priory Belle' 1,000 Guineas Trial S. at Leopardstown on Sunday, April 7, has been identified as a likely starting point for Porta Fortuna (Ire) as she prepares to embark on her three-year-old campaign.

Trained by Donnacha O'Brien, Porta Fortuna proved herself a high-class juvenile in 2023 when her high-profile victories included the G3 Albany S. at Royal Ascot and G1 Cheveley Park S. at Newmarket. She was last seen filling the runner-up spot in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita.

All roads now lead to the G1 Qipco 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket on Sunday, May 4, for the daughter of Caravaggio, with ground conditions at Leopardstown likely to dictate whether she runs there beforehand.

“She was brilliant for us last season,” O'Brien told Attheraces.com. “When they are so good as two-year-olds, you can never be sure how well they'll train on, but she seems to have wintered particularly well and her recent work has been very good.

“I'd like to run her in the 1,000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown, but if the ground is bad, I'll be happy enough to give her a racecourse gallop instead and go straight to the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket.”

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Dubawi’s Never Ending Story Maintains The Ballydoyle Momentum

Following on where stablemate Hans Andersen (GB) (Frankel {GB}) had left off half an hour earlier, Never Ending Story (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}–Athena {Ire}, by Camelot {GB}) supplied further notice that Ballydoyle hold many of the aces in the Classic pack as she swept aside her rivals in Leopardstown's G3 Ballylinch Stud “Priory Belle” 1,000 Guineas Trial S. on Sunday. Successful in the G3 Silver Flash S. over this seven-furlong trip and track in July, the 2-1 favourite who had last been seen finishing third in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac was keen initially as Matilda Picotte (Ire) (Sioux Nation) took up the running with Ryan Moore opting to slot into mid-division. Wide throughout with no cover, the regally-bred bay was wound up to take the measure of that long-time leader with 150 yards remaining and draw away for a 2 1/2-length success as Zarinsk (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) finished the same margin away in third.

“We're delighted, as she hadn't come in her coat yet and so we had been minding her,” explained Aidan O'Brien, who was stretching his record to a dozen winners of this contest. “We decided rather than working her hard, we'd let her run and then back off and prime her for one of the Guineas and Ryan gave her a beautiful ride and let her go to sleep. That is tough ground, so we're very happy with her. We think she'll go a mile and a quarter in time and we might wait for the Irish Guineas as Newmarket might come too quick and Meditate is on track for that.”

Pedigree Notes
Never Ending Story, who was also third in the G2 Prix du Calvados and a slightly unlucky fourth behind Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) and Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never) in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. last term, is the first foal out of the stable's GI Belmont Oaks Invitational winner Athena who was also third in the G1 Pretty Polly S. A full-sister to the G3 Snow Fairy S. winner Goddess, she is also kin to the G1 Irish Oaks heroine Bracelet (Ire) and G2 Rockfel S. winner Wading (Ire) both by Camelot's sire Montjeu (Ire). Wading produced Just Wonderful (Dansili {GB}), who emulated her dam by also winning the Rockfel prior to running second in the Belmont Oaks and third in the G1 Matron S.

The second dam is the G3 Blue Wind S. runner-up Cherry Hinton (GB) (Green Desert), one of four daughters of the great Urban Sea (Miswaki) who has been either directly or indirectly responsible for a trio of Derby winners since the turn of the century. Interestingly, Dubawi has sired three black-type performers from this family in the G2 Balanchine and G3 Pride S. scorer Creative Flair (Ire), the G3 September S. winner Royal Line (GB) and Sayyida (GB) who was second in the G3 Princess Royal S. Athena's 2-year-old colt and yearling filly are full-siblings of Never Ending Story.

Sunday, Leopardstown, Ireland
BALLYLINCH STUD PRIORY BELLE 1,000 GUINEAS TRIAL S.-G3, €55,000, Leopardstown, 4-2, 3yo, f, 7f 18yT, 1:37.43, hy.
1–NEVER ENDING STORY (IRE), 128, f, 3, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Athena (Ire) (GISW-US, G1SP-Ire, SP-Eng, $732,859), by Camelot (GB)
2nd Dam: Cherry Hinton (GB), by Green Desert
3rd Dam: Urban Sea, by Miswaki
O-Mrs J Magnier/M Tabor/D Smith/Westerberg; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. €33,000. Lifetime Record: G1SP-Fr, 7-3-0-3, $153,655. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Matilda Picotte (Ire), 128, f, 3, Sioux Nation–Hallie's Comet (Ire), by One Cool Cat. O-Matilda & Kilmichael Racing Partnership; B-Mighty Universe Ltd (IRE); T-Kieran Cotter. €11,000.
3–Zarinsk (GB), 128, f, 3, Kodiac (GB)–Pavlosk, by Arch.
1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-Ger Lyons. €5,500.
Margins: 2HF, 2HF, NK. Odds: 2.00, 6.00, 5.50.
Also Ran: Madly Truly (Ire), Nightcliff (Ire), Dower House (Ire), Dame Kiri, Clever And Cool (Ire), Impact Warrior (Ire), La Dolce Vita (Ire). Scratched: Not Even Close (Ire), Ocean Quest (Ire), Tarawa (Ire), Thornbrook (Ire).

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Saturday Previews: The Lyons Share of the Action

Saturday sees the first propulsion of the year's Classic pinball as four Classic trials are staged across Ireland and France. No doubt the strongest of the quartet is Leopardstown's G3 Ballylinch Stud “Priory Belle” 1000 Guineas Trial S., where Ger Lyons has an enviable duo in Juddmonte's Sacred Bridge (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) and the Against All Odds Partnership's Panama Red (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}). Momentum has been building for some time for the Glenburnie handler and with some high-class prospects for 2022, he could be about to enter new territory with Ireland's undisputed leading rider Colin Keane at his side. There was something special in the way Sacred Bridge took apart The Curragh's G3 Round Tower S. and, while she has yet to tackle this seven-furlong trip, as a full-sister to Viadera (GB) she could improve for it. That Keane is a fully signed-up member of her fan club means he has to hand the ride on Panama Red to Gary Carroll, but there is no guarantee he is on the right one given how the stable's second-string battled to deny her highly-regarded compatriot Limiti di Greccio (Ire) (Elzaam {Aus}) in the course-and-distance Listed Ingabelle S. on Irish Champions Day.

Dr Zempf Returns at Leopardstown

Lyons has the ace in the pack in the same card's Listed Ballylinch Stud “Red Rocks” 2000 Guineas Trial S., with Peter Brant's G1 Phoenix S. runner-up Dr Zempf (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) making the long-awaited step up from six furlongs which promises to suit his running style. In what could be a big day for Co. Meath, the Summerhill base of Sheila Lavery also puts forward TDN Rising Star New Energy (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) in this and he remains an exciting prospect forgiving his flop when eighth behind the re-opposing Glounthaune (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) in the course-and-distance G3 Killavullan S. in October.

Ballydoyle Brigade Out In Force

As ever, the O'Brien triumvirate are omnipresent across the Foxrock fixture, with patriarch Aidan fielding Guineas and Derby hopefuls aplenty. This is a huge year for Westerberg and the silks are carried by a potential Guineas move-and-shaker in TDN Rising Star Contarelli Chapel (Ire) (Caravaggio) in the 1000 Trial. Not seen since running below-par when fourth in the G3 Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies Sprint S. at Naas in May, the half-sister to Fancy Blue (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) retains the x-factor for connections who already have Tenebrism steered towards the May 1 Classic. Ryan Moore has begun his Irish campaign with gusto and after partnering her and Glounthaune will bid to provide O'Brien, Sr. with a dozen winners of the 10-furlong G3 P.W. McGrath Memorial Ballysax S. on Bluegrass (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

The Brothers O'brien Hold Strong Hands on Saturday

Joseph's day revolves around Scott Heider's G2 Debutante S. and G3 Silver Flash S. winner and G1 Moyglare Stud S. runner-up Agartha (Ire) (Caravaggio), but her three-pound penalty disadvantages her against Sacred Bridge and co. In the Ballysax, where the O'Brien clan are responsible for six of the nine runners, it is Donnacha who may have the edge with Flaxman Stables Ireland's Piz Badile (Ire) (Ulysses {Ire}). He has a three-pound swing with Newtown Anner Stud Farm's Duke de Sessa (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), having finished a half-length second to that TDN Rising Star in the nine-furlong G3 Eyrefield S. here in October. Duke de Sessa's trainer Dermot Weld saddles another TDN Rising Star on the card in Moyglare's Homeless Songs (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), making this a key afternoon for Rosewell House as it is for other major figures such as Jim Bolger and Jessie Harrington who also fire their opening salvos.

Agave Poised to Show True Ability in Penelope

At Saint-Cloud, the 10 1/2-furlong G3 Prix Penelope sees Andre Fabre and Olivier Peslier team up again with the impressive Mar. 10 Listed Prix Rose de Mai scorer Agave (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). While the action at Leopardstown sees a notable rise in the temperature, the spectacle of this seemingly-revived partnership of two of France's most revered figures of the sport cannot be underplayed. Juddmonte's relative of Enable (GB) is as fascinating a 3-year-old filly as there is in France and this Prix de Diane prep will provide further enlightenment as to her ability, with Eric Feurtet's G3 Prix des Reservoirs runner-up Queen Trezy (Fr) (Almanzor {Fr}) lying in wait. What Fabre and Peslier bring to the Penelope in terms of experience and achievement is in stark contrast to the proverbial blooding of rookie Tim Donworth, who pitches Kirsten Rausing's authoritative Deauville debutante winner Allada (GB) (Sea the Moon {Ger}) into what amounts to a personal baptism of fire.

The Revenant Versus 'Spain' In The Edmond Blanc

Away from the 3-year-olds, there is the not-insignificant matter of the G3 Prix Edmond Blanc with Al Asayl France's The Revenant (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) out to re-establish his dominion of the country's miling scene. He is met by Yeguada Centurion SL's TDN Rising Star Sibila Spain (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), an intriguing contender tackling this trip for the first time having run so well when a close fourth in the G1 Prix de Diane.

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