Murphy seeking Group 1 glory for Running Lion in Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes

Oisin Murphy will never forget the part that QIPCO British Champions Series star Roaring Lion played in his rise to the very top of his profession, and he is hoping that the four-time Group 1 winner’s daughter Running Lion can follow in his footsteps with a first top-level win in Newmarket’s Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes on Friday.

David Howden’s filly, who is trained by John and Thady Gosden, looked a live Oaks candidate when winning her first two races of 2023, but she blotted her copybook in the stalls at Epsom and then little went right for her when she was sent on a retrieval mission for the French equivalent. 

She has continued to enjoy mixed fortunes, but it all came right for her at Royal Ascot, where she made nearly all and ran out a clear-cut winner of the Group 2 Duke Of Cambridge Stakes, with Magical Sunset and Rogue Millenium four lengths back in fourth and fifth. She returns to Group 1 level with a winning chance, although Coronation Stakes winner Porta Fortuna could prove hard to beat.       

Former champion jockey Murphy has been busy at the minor meetings this year and is firmly on course for a fourth title, but it’s the big races that matter most and he is very much looking forward to continuing his partnership with Running Lion.

Murphy said: “I was so fortunate to come across a star like Roaring Lion as a young rider, and he’s produced many good horses from his only crop, including Running Lion’s stable-mate Queen Of The Pride, who I won the Lancashire Oaks on at the weekend, and Dubai Mile, who is now at stud. 

I was so fortunate to come across a star like Roaring Lion as a young rider, and he’s produced so many good horses from his only crop

“I was gutted to not win the Princess Elizabeth on Running Lion at Epsom on Derby Day, so it was good to put it right at Royal Ascot, where she was able to do her own thing and enjoyed meeting the ground. She was an impressive winner there.”

He added: “A mile is probably her minimum distance, and it won’t be to her disadvantage if the ground is on the easy side at Newmarket, although it doesn’t get that slow there unless you have crazy weather. She won on soft ground on the other course at Newmarket last year anyway, although that was early-season form and I wouldn’t read too much into it.”

Moore takes the ride on Porta Fortuna

Murphy knows favourite Porta Fortuna better than most, having enjoyed one of his six  top-level wins of 2024 on the filly in Newmarket’s Cheveley Park Stakes, a success that was especially enjoyable because of a long-standing friendship with trainer Donnacha O’Brien from his time riding out at Ballydoyle, and also because he’d missed out on the filly’s Albany Stakes win owing to other commitments.

He said: “Porta Fortuna has a lot of pace and she’s been very well campaigned. She’s done well from two to three and she deserves to be favourite.

“She was given a great ride by Tom (Marquand) on both of her starts this year, when second in the Guineas and then winning the Coronation Stakes, and it’s unfortunate that he has to go to York and so Ryan (Moore) rides her now.

“I rode her for the first time in the Cheveley Park and she was impressive there. Then in the Breeder’s Cup she ran another very good race in second, but it came at the end of a long season for her.”

Porta Fortuna is not the only three-year-old with strong Classic form in the line up, for Paddy Twomey saddles his Irish 1000 Guineas runner-up A Lilac Rolla. The Harry Angel filly, who cost just 40,000 euros, was meeting her first defeat when beaten two and three-quarter lengths by Fallen Angel that day. She had won a Guineas Trial on her reappearance, and she may cope better than Porta Fortuna if it’s soft ground.

Twomey said: “She’s a progressive filly who won two nice races last year and has done well from two to three. Her form this year has been pretty good and the Falmouth or the Prix Rothschild was always the midsummer target after she won an Irish Guineas trial and was second in the Irish Guineas itself. We’ll then probably be looking at something like the Matron Stakes.

“Billy (Lee) is back on here. He rode our other filly Purple Lily at the Curragh, but that’s just the way it fell. They are two good fillies and Purple Lily is going for the Irish Oaks next weekend. I’d imagine this one is a miler, and we are hoping there’s a bit more to come from her still. She’s raced against (Coronation Stakes runner-up) Opera Singer twice and beaten her twice, and she’s a filly on the improve.” 

David Menuisier is due a change of luck after having Tamfana (twice) and Sunway go frustratingly close in Classics this year, and he has an is an interesting contender in four-year-old Sirona, who is stepping up in both class and distance on just her third run for the stable. 

He said: “She did something special against the colts over seven furlongs at Haydock last time when second to Tiber Flow. She relaxed more there than when she ran at Lingfield, and she was rallying really strongly, so I got the strong impression she’s ready for a mile now.

“We might as well have a crack at a fillies’ race at the top level, and all things being equal she should run really well. I’m a bit worried about the ground but hopefully it’s going to dry out by Friday.”

A field of seven is completed by the year younger Jabaara, trained by Roger Varian and ridden by James Doyle. Another improver who is stepping up in class and distance, Jabaara is on a hat-trick after seven-furlong wins at Musselburgh and Carlisle.