Porter In The Park

Lavelle trains out of Ogbourne Maizey in Wiltshire, and it has been a productive season — 47 winners sent out, which is a serious haul and a sign of a yard operating with real confidence. Porter In The Park has been part of that story, though her own contribution came a little earlier: her last win arrived at Ludlow in March 2025, fifteen months ago now, and she hasn't found the winner's enclosure in the six races since. The recent form reads a couple of placed efforts sandwiched around some quieter runs, so the winning thread has gone cold for a while.

What makes her genuinely interesting is what happens when she goes to Ludlow. Two wins from just 3 races there is a remarkable return — she wins 2 in every 3 times she lines up at that track, compared to roughly 1 in every 8 across her whole career. Some horses simply take to a particular course, and Ludlow is clearly hers. The tight, turning nature of the track seems to suit her in a way that other venues simply don't, and that last win there in March 2025 underlines that the form is real and recent.

Tom Bellamy is her most regular partner, riding her 10 times for 1 win together, which is a 10% return — or 1 win from every 10 rides. That's modest, but the relationship has clearly been maintained. Worth noting is a snippet from the yard back in late 2022, when Lavelle flagged that a run at Stratford had been affected by a respiratory issue — the horse was full of mucus and, as the trainer put it, simply couldn't get oxygen in. It's a reminder that not every disappointing run tells the whole story, and that there can be perfectly good explanations lurking behind a flat-looking result.

At nine years old and still racing — she ran just yesterday — Porter In The Park is a tough, experienced campaigner. Don't expect fireworks on an unfamiliar track, but keep an eye on the Ludlow entries.