Portman went down fighting when second in a $100,000 handicap at Flemington today.

The Danny O'Brien-trained four-year-old, a son of Makfi bred in New Zealand, was ridden by Craig Willians in an eight-runner race over 1,600m. He had won three of his four most recent starts, and was widely tipped to build on that sequence.

However, the Matt Cumani-trained Show A Star, who O'Brien feared was the key danger, came out on top by half a length, the pair pulling a further two and a half lengths clear of third-placed Divine Mr Article - all eight ran.

Sheikh Fahad (pictured right, winning at Newmarket last year) returns to racecourse action at Newbury this afternoon when lining up in a charity Flat race (17.25). No stranger to such events, the Sheikh is raising money at Newbury for Greatwood, the Wiltshire-based racehorse welfare charity that takes in ex-racehorses that are in danger of neglect, and in some cases uses them to educate disadvantaged children and young adults with special educational needs.

Photograph: DAN ABRAHAM