Portfolio Duration Narrowly Wins New York Stakes

The Acorn Stakes (G1) may not have belonged to trainer Chad Brown and jockey Flavien Prat—their Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner finished second to Counting Stars —but three other stakes on the June 5 card at Saratoga Race Course did.

First, they struck with Ways and Means  in the Bed o' Roses Stakes (G2), followed a few hours later by Fitz Right  in the Wonder Again Stakes (G2T), and then with Portfolio Duration  in the New York Stakes (GT). The New York Stakes offered the afternoon's biggest prize—a purse of $750,000.

Seth Klarman of Klaravich Stables campaigns both Ways and Means and Portfolio Duration, while Fitz Right races for partners Michael Dubb, William Lawrence, The Elkstone Group, and Michael Kisber.

Portfolio Duration, one of four fillies and mares Brown started in the New York Stakes, was one of the smallest earners in the field of eight coming into the race, but she is much richer exiting it. In winning the race under a perfect, front-running ride from Prat, she picked up the first-place prize of $412,500 to increase her career bankroll to $630,400. The 4-year-old bay filly is 3-2-0 in five starts.

Drawn on the rail and coming out of shorter turf races, Prat utilized her post and tactical speed to take advantage of that was a paceless 1 3/16-mile turf affair. She cruised effortlessly to the lead, carving out easy splits over the first 6 furlongs of the race of :24.39, :49.21 1:12.71, and 1:35.36, and then used her acceleration to turn back stablemate Kathymarissa and ultimately hard-charging French invader Cankoura  by a head.

"We thought that stretching out, she could be the speed. She gave me a good run, tried hard," Prat said.

Her final 3/16ths of a mile in :17.14 made catching difficult. She hit the wire with a final time of 1:52.50. Exiting a runner-up finish in the May 2 Distaff Turf Mile (G2T) at Churchill Downs, she paid $10 to win as the race's third favorite.

Only Cankoura, seventh early, posed a significant late danger to Portfolio Duration, but the winner tenaciously kept her at bay. 

The runner-up's connections reacted with disappointment upon watching the video replay and seeing the results posted on the infield jumbotron.

Brown said it felt good to win the New York Stakes for a third graded stakes win on Friday.

"We went into this Belmont festival with great entries, loaded for bear. We knew going in," said Brown, who won his sixth New York Stakes, all since 2016. "I knew going in, they're not all gonna work out."

Brown, Prat, and Klaravich Stables also added a dead-heat second-place finish from Fully Subscribed  in the Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) in the final stakes race on Friday.

Favored Gezora , making her first start in the New York Stakes for trainer Bill Mott after being transferred out of the Brown barn by owner Peter Brant, raced keenly while wide without cover and threw in the towel early on the second turn to fade to last. Other horses, such as third-place Kathymarissa and fourth-place City Girl , another Brown trainee, also seemed compromised by having to make up ground against the race flow.

Portfolio Duration, a daughter of Night of Thunder  out of the Dansili  mare Shemya, was bred by Michael Wates in Britain. Mike Ryan, agent for Klaravich Stables, bought the filly for the equivalent of $190,371 from the Kilminfoyle House Stud consignment to the 2023 Tattersalls October Yearlings Sale. She is one of two graded/group winners produced by her dam.