Portmore Lough

Portmore Lough did remarkably well to finish second to Aforementioned in the JT McNamara Ladbrokes Munster National at Limerick on Sunday. John Kiely’s horse was all but brought down at the first fence when Doctor Duffy fell in front of him. He was knocked back from a good position, just behind the front rank, to the rear of the field. The horse did well to stand up, and rider Simon Torrens did really well to keep the partnership intact. As it was, he lost his irons, he had to jump the second fence without them and, by the time he recovered his equilibrium, he was last of the remaining 15 runners, all of 20 lengths behind the leader.

JP McManus’ horse gradually got back into his rhythm and attached himself to the rear of the field. His jumping was good too in the main, he jumped the five fences in the back straight final time well, which took him up through the field – thinned out too by fallers – into the leading group of six that broke away from the field as they rounded the home turn. He was the first of the sextet to come under pressure, but he responded well and, actually, as they raced around the by-passed second last fence, he arrived there as a real threat to Aforementioned. The leader stretched away on the run-in, but Portmore Lough kept on well all the way to the line to finish second, just two and a half lengths behind the winner and over six lengths clear of the third-placed Westerner Point.

Portmore Lough is nine years old now, but he is still relatively lightly raced, he has run just 10 times over fences. He ran a big race to finish third in the Troytown Chase at Navan last November, and that looks like an ideal target for him now. He stays well, he handles soft ground well, he obviously goes well at Navan, and he is now rated 130, 1lb lower than the mark off which he finished third behind Chris’s Dream in last year’s Troytown.

Limerick, 11^th October 2020

© Sportinglife.com, 12^th October 2020