Four-year-old gelding Mr Porter (Bel Esprit – Dolce Gabana) has debuted in style, winning the Livestock Markets Ltd Maiden Plate over 1050 metres at Balaklava today.
Having won a trial five days prior at Morphettville, confidence was high that Mr Porter would put in a forward showing, and everything went to script.
The win was the second for the day in a quartet of winners for leading jockey Dom Tourneur, who was impressed with the way Mr Porter applied himself in his maiden trip to the races.
Jumping from barrier five, the gelding took all of the first half-furlong to find his feet, but once able to do so he found himself in a nice trailing position, with most of the field in front of him battling for the first few spots.
Such was the speed approaching the corner, that Tourneur clicked up Mr Porter just to stay in touch, and whilst it looked for a moment that the debutante would be forever chasing, he responded, grabbed the bit and all of a sudden was on heels, forcing the hoop to now worry about navigating a path into clear room.
The gap did come, and Mr Porter worked his way off the leader No Mercy’s heels, and whilst he took a while to pick up the leader, he did, and did so convincingly.
The win was a family affair for Minervini and the Alvaro family, with Mark training Mr Porter’s dam Dolce Gabana to three wins. Mr Porter is the fourth foal from Dolce Gabana to have raced, with all four being winners.
Congratulations to owner Carmine Alvaro.
Daniel Borg
Trackside Media