Fortamour

The most striking number in Fortamour's record is this: 5 wins from 26 races at Ripon. That is almost one in every five visits to the same track, which is the sort of familiarity that goes beyond coincidence. Horses do not read maps, but they respond to the shape of a track, the way the ground sits, the rhythm of a particular circuit — and Ripon clearly suits this one. It was there, on 14 April 2022, that Fortamour broke its duck for the first time, and it has kept coming back to win ever since. When a 10-year-old horse has more than half its career wins at a single venue, that is a story in itself.

Jockey Joanna Mason has been the regular partner, riding Fortamour in 17 of its races and winning 3 of them — a win rate of 18%, or roughly 1 in every 6 rides together. That is actually better than Fortamour's overall career average of 14%, suggesting they work well as a combination. Mason is one of the most experienced female jockeys in British racing, and the consistency of this partnership is something Ben Haslam's yard at Middleham Moor has clearly leaned on.

Haslam himself is having a productive season — 35 winners sent out already, which is a healthy total for a yard of his size. Fortamour last won at Newcastle in November 2025, and while recent form has been patchy — finishing 6th, 11th, and 12th in three of its last five runs — it bounced back to second place most recently and raced just yesterday. At 10 years old and still active, still placing, still in training at one of North Yorkshire's most respected yards, Fortamour is the kind of durable, track-savvy horse that racing quietly depends on. Not every runner needs to be a star. Some are just very, very hard to put down.