‘Sign Me Up’ – Barry Fowler Relishing New Partnership as Porta Fortuna Chapter Draws to a Close

[Wandering Eyes]

Debuts simply don't come much more encouraging than that of The Publican's Son (Beau Liam) at the Curragh last month – so encouraging that this maiden is now being readied to test his mettle against some of the best sprinting juveniles that Europe has to offer in Saturday's G1 Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket.

Already highly tried when debuting in the G3 Round Tower Stakes over six furlongs, the 40/1 shot was the slowest of the 10 runners from the stalls there, betraying his inexperience in a race where each of his nine rivals had already made at least one appearance on a racecourse.

As a contest it was all but over with a furlong to run, as favourite Mission Central (No Nay Never) established what would prove to be a decisive advantage, but cast your eye back through the field and there was another horse who could be spotted making rapid late headway from rear. At the line said horse had reduced the deficit to just three quarters of a length, screaming 'eye-catcher' whilst sporting a set of silks which are quickly becoming a familiar sight on Irish racecourses.

Indeed, in the footsteps of Porta Fortuna (Caravaggio) and Atsila (Phoenix Of Spain), now follows The Publican's Son for Kentucky-based owner Barry Fowler, who is partnered in the Joseph O'Brien-trained colt with racing analyst and broadcaster Kevin Blake, among others.

With Donnacha O'Brien's champion filly Porta Fortuna being prepared for an upcoming engagement at Tattersalls, Fowler will soon find himself with a vacancy for another top-class performer to follow on the big days. Whilst one swallow doesn't make a summer, The Publican's Son showed a flicker of brilliance on debut to suggest he could be just the horse to fill the void.

“Joseph thought he would run a good race,” Fowler says of expectations heading to the Curragh. “I think the horse had been a bit keen in his work at home and Joseph thought he needed a race with pace, which is why we went to the Group 3. We were hoping he'd run well, but I don't think we were expecting that. He was very impressive.

“He hit the line hard and in another 50 yards he probably would have won. We're looking at going to the Middle Park next, all being well, and we're really excited about him. It was nice to see [how well he ran on debut] the way this year has gone.”

Certainly, 2025 hasn't played out the way Fowler might have hoped, not since late-May, anyway, when he was in attendance to see Porta Fortuna make a successful start to her four-year-old campaign in the Curragh's G2 Lanwades Stud Stakes. That followed hot on the heels of Atsila's victory in the G3 Athasi Stakes at the same venue, looking a potential Group 1 filly in the making.

Since then, however, it's fair to say that there's hasn't been much in the way of good news for Fowler. Porta Fortuna hasn't raced again due to injury, while Atsila has failed to win any of her four subsequent starts at the top level. Scorthy Champ (Mehmas), too, remains winless since his Group 1 success in last year's National Stakes.

“You have a really good year like last year, when I had both Porta and Scorthy, and then you have a year like this year which has been down a little bit. It's not been as good a year with the two-year-olds as it was last year, but that's the ups and downs of it,” says a realistic Fowler who, regardless, seems to be enjoying his association with the O'Brien brothers as much as ever.

He adds, “I've got several horses with Donnacha and several with Joseph. I like both of them because they keep you updated and they're very honest about what they think the horse is capable of. We stay in touch and they care about their clients.

“They're just really super nice people and we get on really well. We really enjoy it when we get to go over and see them and it's the same when they come over here for the Breeders' Cup. They don't think they're above anybody – and it's the same with Aidan and Annemarie. They're both great people, too.”

Explaining how he first came to have horses trained in Ireland, Fowler continues, “I took about six years to get to this point. I had quarter horses, cutting horses and rodeo horses growing up. I always wanted a Thoroughbred, so I bought a $500 RNA and sort of went from there. I won a little bit and reinvested the money. I bought some mares in foal and got lucky with some big days when we sold some of the foals for good money. That's all fed into it and we've been lucky to have some good horses over here.

“Then, three years ago, I bought one with Joseph through an online sale and I was happy to leave the horse over there to try and get into racing overseas. It's just blossomed from there, really. I've partnered on several horses and had several of my own. With Joseph, I tell him, 'Hey, if you get a horse you like that you need somebody to come in on, let me know.' We've got a good relationship like that.”

The Publican's Son was one such horse. From the first crop of 'TDN Rising Star' Beau Liam, he made the long journey from Florida to County Kilkenny after being picked up for $200,000 at the OBS March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training.

“Joseph and Justin Casse bought him and they thought he was one of the best-looking horses in the sale. It was one of those situations where Joseph called me and said, “Hey, there's still this much percentage left in this colt, do you want to get in on him?' He said it was a bunch of good people and friends [in the partnership], so I said, 'Sure, sign me up.'

“I'm one of those where I like the trainer to pick them. The bloodstock agents are good at what they do, but the trainers know what kind of horse fits their programme.”

One of Donnacha's picks, a St Mark's Basilica colt by the name of Numantia, who was bought for €180,000 at Book 1 of the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale, is identified by Fowler as a horse to follow next year, but first there are decisions to be made regarding future plans for Atsila, who ran easily her best race since the Athasi when last seen finishing a never-nearer third in the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown.

“It was good to see her get back to the form of her first two races,” Fowler says of that effort. “She was back where she needed to be and Donnacha was really happy with her. We made a little change and put the tongue tie on her. She also likes coming between horses, like she did at the Curragh in the Athasi and when she won her maiden at Bellewstown. She just seems to like having some competition and a bit of cover.

“We're going to stay in the Sun Chariot at Newmarket and see how the ground plays out. We're also kind of batting around the idea of maybe going to the Breeders' Cup for the Filly & Mare Turf. She's bred to go long and going three turns should set up well for her to settle and get a good stalking position. She can get a good tow into the race and make her run at the end.”

On the possibility of Atsila being retained for a four-year-old campaign, he adds, “We have entered her in Tattersalls, just so we have a spot for her. But it's hard to find these Group 1- or Group 2-type horses. She hasn't been raced hard – she didn't race as a two-year-old – so, if she's starting to peak and runs well in one or both of those races, then it would be hard to let her go this year. We might bring her back for another year to go after those Group races.”

The “we” in this instance includes Medallion Racing and Steve Weston who, as well as being Fowler's partners in Atsila, also shared in the remarkable journey of Porta Fortuna, along with Dean Reeves. From the dream earlier this year that Atsila might be able to follow the example set by her year-older stable-mate, there now remains the simple acknowledgment that last year's European champion three-year-old filly was a once-in-a-lifetime horse for all concerned.

“Medallion and Steve bought into Atsila after she won the Athasi,” Fowler adds. “That little group of us always try to go in together on stuff and it's good to have them along for the ride with her. We were hoping she might turn out as good as Porta. She's been pretty good – but it's hard to find one like Porta.”

Indeed it is. Four-time Group 1 winners are a very rare breed, perhaps rarer still horses who can win at Royal Ascot in consecutive years. All told, Porta Fortuna will be offered at Park Paddocks as the winner of eight of her 13 starts and nearly £1.3 million in total prize-money, with Fowler identifying the second Ascot victory in last year's Coronation Stakes as the highlight of a glittering career.

“We actually thought that she should have been the European champion two-year-old [when she won four times, including the G1 Cheveley Park Stakes], as well as the champion three-year-old, and she showed what she was really capable of on Coronation day when she beat Opera Singer,” Fowler sums up. “She showed there that she was a quality filly and that even some of the smaller guys can have a good horse.

“We're not the big, rich farms, so it's hard to keep a filly like her as a broodmare. We've got to pick the time to move them on and you know that they're going to go to a good home. A mare like that, she's going to end up somewhere good. That makes it a little easier.”

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