One of Denmark’s best horses over the past six years, the Søren Jensen-trained Good Fortune, was put down on Tuesday after developing laminitis in a very short space of time. “There is a sadness over the whole stable, because Good Fortune has meant a great deal to us”, Jensen says on Wednesday morning.
In December, the Appel Au Maitre son picked up an infection in one hind leg, which meant that he took the weight off that leg for a couple of weeks.
At the same time he developed laminitis in the other leg, and unfortunately that quickly went in the wrong direction.
“The infection itself was more or less over again, and he actually looked really well again on Monday, but yesterday he suddenly went badly, so we had him X-rayed straight away. The images confirmed our worst fear – that we had to say goodbye to him”, Søren continues.
Good Fortune was born in 2018 at Stutteri Outback in northern Jutland, and throughout his racing career he was owned by the Havemanns and Stald Shaker. He went into training with Søren Jensen at Enghavelyst as a yearling.
As a 2-year-old he won two of his three starts, including the 1800-metre Basnæsløb at Klampenborg.
As a 3-year-old he continued to impress, and after a third place in the 2021 edition of the Danish Derby behind the super fillies Iron Butterfly (Swipe) and Go On Carlras (Harzand), he won both Jockeyklubbens Grand Prix and the Breeders’ Trophy Classic at Bro Park before the season was rounded off with a third place in the Breeders’ Prize Classic at Øvrevoll.
Good Fortune won twice in his 4-year-old season – notably the Breeders’ Trophy Mile at his favourite track Bro Park – but the very best was still to come.
During the winter between his 4-year-old and 5-year-old seasons he was in training at Meydan, where on 27 January 2023 he became the first Danish-bred and Danish-trained horse to win in Dubai.
Good Fortune won by a neck in the 2000-metre Zabeel Turf, which was run on a rain-soaked turf track – something the bay gelding loved in the extreme.
Back in Denmark, Good Fortune continued to impress with wins in the Danish Jockey Club Cup (L) and the Copenhagen Golden Mile, before it became three second places in a row in Stockholms Stora Pris (Gr.3), Pokalløb (L) and Marit Sveaas Minneløp (Gr.3) respectively.
The Scandinavian campaign was then rounded off with a comfortable win in Skandinavisk Grand Prix, before the autumn and winter brought trips to France and Dubai.
In 2024, Good Fortune again returned from Meydan in top form and started off by winning the Danish Jockey Club Cup (L) for the second year in a row. And after a second place in the Golden Mile (L) behind King David (Elusive City), he finally got the long-awaited Group 3 triumph in Stockholms Stora Pris (Gr.3).
Under Kevin Stott, the Danish elite galloper won by a neck from the defending winner Admiral De Vega (Lope De Vega) and collected the first prize of 540,000 Swedish kronor.
Back at Klampenborg there followed two more wins in 2024 – in Klampenborg Classic and Skandinavisk Grand Prix respectively.
That very win in the latter event, which he also took for the second year running, turned out to be Good Fortune’s last visit to the winner’s circle. He started six times last year and finished second on half of those occasions.
What ended up being the last start of his career came in a memorable edition of Stutteri Stork Skandinavisk Grand Prix, where, carrying two kilos more than the ‘young’ My Fortune (Appel Au Maitre), he battled fiercely all the way to the line and was beaten by the smallest possible margin.
At his best, Good Fortune reached a handicap mark of 94, and he earned a total of 4,104,452 in the 40 starts of his life, of which he won 16.
“It is very rare for thoroughbreds in active training to be struck by laminitis. In my 55 years in the sport I have never myself had a horse that was hit by it”, says Søren Jensen and concludes:
“Good Fortune has meant a huge amount to me. Not only his race results, but his whole charisma. From day one he has been a true gentleman to deal with, and it makes me sad that he was not allowed to enjoy his retirement”.
In the video below you can relive the great Danish evening at Meydan around three years ago, when Good Fortune and the Frenchman Theo Bachelot delivered the sensation in the Dubai rain.
