GOODWOOD, England // Ortensia finally showed British racegoers what she was capable of with a devastating victory in the Group 2 King George Stakes yesterday.
The Al Quoz sprinter winner had failed to sparkle on two racecourse appearances following her blistering victory in Dubai but the old dash was there to be seen as she defied a 4lbs penalty to win by a length and a quarter.
Spirit Quartz, trained by Robert Cowell, the Dubai World Cup Carnival regular, was second under Frankie Dettori while Masamah, ridden by Jamie Spencer, was third.
"If you went through her previous form she was head and shoulders above the rest," William Buick, the winning rider, said. "Her class got her through. It is fantastic for connections and I'm glad it worked out."
The Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York Racecourse now beckons and Buick was bullish about the seven-year-old mare's chances on August 24.
"There are very good sprinters here but this filly will certainly take some pegging back in the Nunthorpe and the flat track there will be much better for her."
Earlier in the day Mark Johnston's handicap machine continued to churn out winners when Fulbright, owned by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed, led home Mabait, owned by Khalifa Dasmal, in the Mile handicap on the card.
It was Johnston's fifth victory of the meeting and the trainer remains on course to register his eighth trainers' title at Glorious . "I thought it would be a tough week," Johnston said. "We had a lot of darts to throw at the board but I thought we'd be doing well with two winners."
Dettori picked up his first success of the meeting but he had to share the spoils when his mount Archbishop dead-heated with Trumpet Major in the Group 3 Thoroughbred Stakes.