Portage justifies favouritism in the opener

The Mick Halford trained Portage justified favouritism as he took the opener at the Curragh this afternoon, the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden.

The son of Teofilo kept on well to finish a never nearer second to East India on his debut over the course and distance in July and he was sent off the 2/1 (touched 9/4 on-course) market leader to go one place better today.

Having broke well the Godolphin owned colt was settled just behind the leaders by Shane Foley.

He was pushed along to challenge from two furlongs out but he only really got going inside the final furlong, hitting the front 100 yards from the finish before going on to score by half a length. Sacrificial (7/1), who was prominent throughout and lead from the two furlong pole, couldn’t hold off the winner and had to settle for second under Gary Carroll for Ger Lyons. The Warrior for Aidan and Joseph O’Brien, had a far from clear passage on the inside and he finished a further two and a half lengths back in third at 5/2.

Mick Halford said afterwards: "He’s a lovely big horse and he stepped forward nicely from his first run. We gave him a bit of time as he’s a big horse. He loved the ground and will have no bother stepping up to a mile. Whether he’ll run again this year is debatable but he’s a nice colt.

"Shane said he’s still quite babyish but he was always confident that once he got a hold of him that he’d pick up for him. I’d say he’s still green, and hopefully there is more to come. He could be a nice prospect for next year.

"We took our time with him. They are great people to train for in that they never rush you or put you under any pressure to run them, and we just felt that he’d benefit from the extra time which he did. The patience will pay off.

"He’s not slow and I’d say he’ll start off over a mile next year."

The winner cost 70,000 Guineas as a foal and he holds an entry in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket next month.

Additional reporting by Alan Magee