Scone trainer Paul Messara has blamed a damp track for Ortensia’s midfield finish in the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The seven-year-old mare, who started favourite, loomed with 200 meters to run but failed to produce her customary finish.
“It was her most disappointing run this campaign,” jockey Craig Williams said after the eighth-placed finish.
“She was very fresh and felt good, but just failed to lift in the good to soft going, which is closer to an Australian slow.
“A mare of her age needs things to go their way.”
The connections will now weigh up whether to retire the multiple Group 1 winner to stud.
The result has cast doubt over Australia’s sprinters, with some commentators saying Black Caviar would have been beaten as well.
Black Caviar remains the $1.40 favourite for Saturday’s Golden Jubilee Stakes.
