Phoenix possible for smart juveniles

ROYAL Ascot scorer Porta Fortuna and Railway Stakes hero Bucanero Forte could both run next in the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh on August 12th.

Porta Fortuna was an impressive winner of the Albany Stakes last month. The form of the race was given an immediate boost when the runner-up Matrika won the Group 2 Airlie Stud Stakes only eight days later.

Trainer Donnacha O’Brien said: “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.

“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 1 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 24yh) as well as a back-up, that’s about a week or two afterwards.”

Connections then hope all roads will lead to the Breeders’ Cup, where Porta Fortuna’s American owners will have the opportunity to cheer on their filly in their own backyard.

Trained by Adrian Murray, Bucanero Fuerte finished third in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot before being turned out quickly to win the Railway Stakes at the Curragh on Irish Derby day.

Tom Pennington, racing manager for the colt’s owner Amo Racing, said: “Bucanero Fuerte has come out of the Curragh in great form. He’s got all the options. He’s in the Phoenix Stakes, he’s in the National and we’ll put him in the Morny.

“We can’t wait to see him up at seven furlongs, but he showed at the Curragh he’s not slow. It will be a Group 1 on his next start, we just need to decide which one we go for. We would like to run in the Phoenix Stakes, that would be very much on our agenda and the National Stakes. They are the races we want to be competing in and he’s shown that he’s up to that level.”

Summer break for White Birch

WHITE Birch is set for a mid-season break following his below-par showing in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby. Trained by John Murphy, the colt had acquitted himself with real credit in the first half of the season, following up a win on reappearance in the Ballysax Stakes with podium finishes in both the Dante and then the Derby at Epsom.

He was sent off 6-1 at the Curragh but was ultimately way below his best as he trailed home in a well-held eighth of nine and connections are keen to put a line through the performance as they now freshen their charge up ahead of a return in the autumn.

“He’s come home perfectly sound and all is well,” said George Murphy, assistant trainer to his father. “He just ran a little bit flat and ran in to a fair bit of trouble, so he is going to get a little break now and aim for a couple of targets at the back-end of the year. He’s had a tough early season so he’s more than entitled to a rest now.”

Dane O’Neill injured in racing fall

JOCKEY Dane O’Neill is expected to make a full recovery despite sustaining fractured vertebrae and ribs in a fall at Wolverhampton on Tuesday. The veteran rider was taken to hospital after a fall from Eagle Eyed Tom in the opening race. The race was abruptly stopped and voided, while O’Neill was attended to by paramedics on the track before being stretchered off and taken to hospital.

An update on the Facebook account of O’Neill’s wife Laura, read: “Following his fall at Wolverhampton, Dane was treated on the track before being transported by the racecourse ambulance to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. He had a prompt assessment including scans where a fractured thoracic vertebra and some fractured ribs were discovered. “Dane is likely to have surgery in the next few days and the expectation is he will make a full recovery after a period of rehabilitation.”