Ortensia Wins the Nunthorpe

Aussie Rules - Ortensia won the Nunthorpe for Australia

Australian mare Ortensia finally landed a big Group 1 sprint in the UK earlier when she flew home to win the Nunthorpe on day three of York’s Ebor Festival under William Buick.

Ortensia had been in Britain since her impressive win in the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan at the end of March to contest all the big summer sprint prizes.

She first headed to Royal Ascot for the King’s Stand as many people’s idea of the winner only to lose the race before the off by getting worked up in the preliminaries. It was the July Cup next, where she ran well but was undone by the bog-like ground that day and finished fourth.

Ortensia bounced back to form last time out though winning the Group 2 King George Stakes at Glorious Goodwood with an impressive display, and in spite of much doom and gloom from her trainer Paul Messara about the ground for today’s race she has now gone one better than Goodwood by landing a Group 1 prize in the UK.

Sent off the joint 7/2 favourite with Bated Breath – who once again didn’t get his ground – Ortensia looked like she had a mountain to climb some ten lengths off a blistering pace at the half way point.

Buick remained cool as ever though and pushed her along and the mare responded in fantastic style to sprout wings and get home by a neck from Spirit Quartz (14/1) and Frankie Dettori.

Yorkshire-trained Hamish McGonagall (14/1) was third and outsider Humidor (50/1) nabbed fourth.

Of the other fancied runners Bated Breath was sixth, Sole Power seventh and the previously unbeaten Pearl Secret was a perhaps disappointing ninth of the nineteen runners; you could pretty much have thrown a blanket over everything from fifth down to twelfth though.