No fairytale return for Portman's flying filly Mrs Danvers

There was no fairytale return to racecourse duty for Mrs Danvers in the 5f Listed contest at Bath on Friday evening as the filly, having her first run for 376 days, could finish only 11th behind winner Mrs Gallagher.

After showing early speed under Richard Kingscote, Mrs Danvers could stay on only at the one pace in the closing stages and went down by just over six lengths, with her trainer Jonny Portman declaring afterwards that he was keeping his option open with the filly.

He said: “We were proud to have her back after the disappointing year last season, where she was lame after her run in France. We thought she might just need the run after such a long time off and it has panned out that way.