World Of Fortunes outstays rivals on hurdling debut

World Of Fortunes (9/4) returned from over nine months off to make a winning debut over obstacles in the Brendan Cullimore Electrical Mares Maiden Hurdle.

Trained in Gorey by Liam Kenny for Michael F Broderick, the chesnut had impressed in a bumper at this venue in May 2023 when beating the smart Familiar Dreams before finishing down the field in a Listed bumper at Cheltenham in November.

Here, under Jordan Gainford, she tracked the leaders and was pushed along after the final flight in the back straight. With what would normally be the second-last and last both omitted due to the low-lying sun, the six-year-old's stamina came to the fore on the long run-in and she collared Workinonadream a furlong out to account for that rival by four-and-a-quarter lengths.

James Kenny, son of the winning trainer, said: "She was a little bit sticky jumping and it was a good thing it was three-miles today, as it gave her the time to warm into it. A couple of things went wrong but I'd say her ability got her through. She'll have to sharpen up and get slicker jumping, but in fairness she hadn't run in nearly 290 days. All she'll do is improve and we're delighted with her.  

"She had a couple of little niggly injuries and her owner has been very patient. He gave her all the time in the world. She'll keep hurdling now and we'll look for a race in three or four weeks. We've nothing mapped out, we said we'd get today out of the way first and see how it went."

Quotes from Donal Murphy