If Fortria hadn’t won another race after that, he still would have had a hugely successful racing career, but the Fortina gelding was only getting going. Tom Dreaper’s horse raced six more times that season, and he won four times, over all types of distances and all types of obstacles. We Rank The Best Horse Racing Betting Sites

Given 12 stone to carry, the same weight as Fred Winter’s horse Saffron Tartan, who went on to win the King George and the Cheltenham Gold Cup later that season, Fortria kept on strongly to win well. Winner of the Cotswold Chase, the old Arkle, at Cheltenham as a six-year-old in 1958, and winner of the second running of the Champion Chase back at Cheltenham in 1960, he started off the 1960/61 season by winning over hurdles before going back to Cheltenham in November for the inaugural running of the Mackeson Gold Cup. They obviously didn’t know it then, but the inaugural running of the Paddy Power Gold Cup, then run under the Mackeson banner, produced one of its most auspicious winners.įortria was as versatile as he was talented.