Bona Fortuna

The trouble is that Bona Fortuna has not tasted victory since Windsor on 22 July 2024, a drought of twenty-five months that speaks to how difficult life has become. In its last six races, it has finished nowhere near the winner's circle: sixth, sixth, second, second, second, and third. Three times it has run second—close enough to taste it, far enough away to feel the gap widen. For a horse that costs money to train and enter in races, this is the hard reality of mid-level racing: consistent near-misses do not pay the bills.

Michael Appleby's yard in Oakham, Rutland, has sent out 71 winners this season, so the trainer clearly knows how to get horses to the line. At Class 4 level—the everyday competitive range where Bona Fortuna runs—it has managed only 1 win from 7 races, a 14% win rate. That is below even its already modest overall record, suggesting that when the step up in class comes, something goes missing. The horse is recent enough in racing—last out just a day ago—to suggest the yard is still looking for another spark. Whether that spark will come, or whether Bona Fortuna's best days really are two years behind it, time will tell. For now it remains a horse with a clear preference and a run of results that do not match its talent on the ground it loves.