Fortria (foaled 1952) was anIrishNational Hunt horse best known as the first dual winner of theChampion Chase and winner of the inauguralMackeson Gold Cup. Although very successful over two miles, he also excelled at longer distances, and won the 1961Irish Grand National and finished second in the 1962 and 1963Cheltenham Gold Cups.

Fortria was a bay horse bred by Mr. A. Craigie. His sire,Fortina, won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1947, the only entire (stallion) to do so. His dam,Senria also produced the 1957 and 1958National Hunt Handicap Chase winnerSentina and the 1963 Irish Grand National winnerLast Link.

Fortria was owned by George Ansley and put into training with outstanding Irish trainerTom Dreaper, who later trainedArkle. Fortria was ridden by Irish jockeyPat Taaffe.

Fortria made his debut in a maiden hurdle over two miles atMullingar in 1957, where he finished ninth to Prince Swallow. He then finished third in the Glenview Hurdle atLeopardstown before switching to fences. He had much more success as a chaser, winning four races in Ireland^[1] before triumphing in theCotswold Chase at Cheltenham by five lengths.^[2]

Fortria failed to win in the 1958/59 season due to a breathing problem, which was rectified when he was hobdayed.

Returning the following autumn, Fortria won the two milePathfinder Chase atManchester. Sent off the 6/5 favourite and carrying 12 st 3 lbs, he beatNickleby by one and a half lengths. Back in Ireland, Fortria was stepped up in trip in a three-mile chase, where he was beaten a short head by Leopardstown Chase winnerFredith's Son while conceding him 12 lbs. Fortria followed this up by finishing fourth in the Baldoyle Handicap Chase and second in the Easter Chase atFairyhouse, where he gave 13 lbs to the futureGrand Annual Challenge Cup winnerMonsieur Trois Etoiles.^[3]

Fortria returned toCheltenham to contest theChampion Chase, which had been run for the first time in 1959. As the previous winner,Quita Que, was injured, Fortria was sent off the 2/1 favourite againstDouble Star andBlue Dolphin. Fortria contested the lead withFlame Gun (winner of the 1959 Cotswold Chase), who fell at the third last, before winning by three lengths from Blue Dolphin.^[4]

Fortria completed his season by running in theGalway Plate under 12 st 7 lbs, where he finished fourth toSparkling Flame.

Fortria had a very successful season the following year, winning eight out of his ten races in England and Ireland. He started off by winning a hurdle race in Ireland, before travelling to Cheltenham for the newly introducedMackeson Gold Cup over two miles. Top weight wasSaffron Tartan, who went on to win that season'sKing George VI Chase andCheltenham Gold Cup, on 12 st, but by virtue of his hurdles win, Fortria was given a 7 lb penalty and carried the same weight. Fortria stalked the pace in fifth before making progress down the hill to take the lead and win by six lengths fromIcanopit (carrying just 10 st 3 lbs). Saffron Tartan finished down the field.^[5]

Back in Ireland, Fortria defeatedAlbergo, dual winner of theIrish Champion Hurdle, in a chase over two miles three furlongs while conceding 19 lbs. He then finished fifth in theThyestes Chase toHunter's Breeze (who had won the Christmas Chase at Leopardstown) andMr. What (who had won the 1958Grand National). Fortria next defeatedChampion Hurdle winnerAnother Flash in a hurdle race at Baldoyle.^[6]

He returned to theCheltenham Festival to defend his Champion Chase title. Also in the five-runner field were 1959 winner Quita Que, 1963 winnerSandy Abbot,Monsieur Trois Etoiles, and top noviceRetour de Flamme. Quita Que led at a steady early pace, while Fortria tracked with Sandy Abbot. At the second last fence, Fortria had only a narrow advantage over his rivals but kept on well up the hill to win by two lengths.^[7] Dreaper had given him an entry in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but the decision was made to withdraw him after this effort. However, Quita Que reappeared two days later to win theCathcart Challenge Cup.

Fortria stepped up in trip for theIrish Grand National at Fairyhouse on his next start. The race was run on good ground and, carrying 12 st, he defeated thirteen rivals to win by four lengths. Also in the field wereOwen's Sedge, who had won thePowers Gold Cup in 1960, andZonda, the 1959 Irish Grand National winner.^[8]

Fortria won only once in seven races that year, with that victory coming in a walkover. He was beaten by ten lengths when concedingGrallagh Cnoc 18 lbs. He then ran in the Mackeson Gold Cup and was second by three lengths toScottish Memories (receiving 16 lbs), who had won his last nine races. Back in fifth was 1960 Cheltenham Gold Cup winnerPas Seul.^[9]

Rather than running in the Champion Chase at the Festival, connections made the decision to run Fortria in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. In the race, he came up against the other top chaser of the era,Mandarin, who had won twoHennessy Gold Cups and twoKing George VI Chases. Fortria hit the front in what looked like a winning move, until Mandarin came driving up the inside underFred Winter to triumph by a length. The two horses were ten lengths clear of their rivals.^[10]

Fortria then ran in the Punchestown Handicap Chase over two miles, where he was third to Owen's Sedge, conceding 23 lbs.^[11]

The following season, Mandarin had retired but Fortria was still considered the dominant chaser in Ireland. Fortria won theHermitage Chase over a two and half miles atNewbury, defeatingWhitbread Gold Cup winnerHoodwinked by three lengths.^[12] He next ran in the Mackeson Gold Cup for the third time, where he was again allocated 12 st and faced two Champion Chase winners inPiperton andSandy Abbot. Sandy Abbot led the field while Fortria lingered further back until the last open ditch, where he moved forward with a great leap at the fence. Coming to the last, he was strongly challenged by the lightly weightedSchool For Gamble and Owen's Sedge but refused to yield and galloped on to win by three lengths.^[13]

This victory was his seventh in England and nineteenth in total, bringing his earnings to £19,731. He next ran in the two mile Baldoyle Handicap Chase but made little impression.^[14] He ran in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March but was no match for the six-year-oldMill House, who ran away from the field to win by ten lengths.^[15]

Fortria then attempted to win a second Irish Grand National under 12 st but tired in the heavy ground and fell when well behind. His sister,Last Link, won the race under 9 st 7 lbs.^[16]

Fortria recorded his final victory in a race in Ireland, then finished second in theBecher Steeplechase under a weight of 12 st 7 lbs after tiring and making a mistake at the last fence.^[17] His final race came in the Mackeson Gold Cup where, under top weight for the fourth time, he struggled into fifth behindRichard Of Bordeaux.^[18] It was the first time he had ever finished out of the first two in England.

Soon after his Mackeson Gold Cup run, Fortria was retired by his connections as the winner of twenty races and £20,344.^[19] The Grade 2Fortria Chase atNavan is named in his honour and featuresMoscow Flyer andNative Upmanship among its winners.

• Racehorses trained in Ireland
• Racehorses bred in Ireland
• National Hunt racehorses
• 1952 racehorse births
• Thoroughbred family 7-b
• Byerley Turk sire line

• CS1 maint: location missing publisher
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2022