Throughout his racing career, Portos (Tapit) made 41 starts for six different trainers at 11 tracks over seven seasons. He finished in the top three in 19 of those starts, earned a total of $372,814 and even picked up a graded stakes placing before he retired. Though Portos may not have been a household name, the gray left an impression wherever he went—and on no one more deeply than Kathleen Nathan.The pair first crossed paths in the summer of 2023 in trainer Amira Chichakly's barn at Belmont Park.“She's always had all of these bays and chestnuts, but I walked into the barn one day and there was this beautiful gray horse with his head hanging out of a stall. I called [Amira] immediately and she says, 'Merry Christmas! This is your present for a couple of weeks until he ships up to Saratoga,'” explained Nathan. “I got to spend those handful of weeks riding Portos and that's when I fell in love with him.”A lifelong equestrian, Nathan developed a passion for the Thoroughbred long before she made her way to the racetrack. Inspired by the partnership with her first off-track Thoroughbred at the age of 13, Nathan relocated from her home state of Vermont to Long Island, New York, where she began buying Thoroughbreds off the track to retrain and resell as hunter/jumper prospects. It was these experiences, and her ever-growing list of connections within the racing industry, that inspired Nathan to take out her exercise rider's license at Belmont six years ago.“Riding the horses at the track allowed me to get a better understanding of their life there, which ultimately made it easier for me to choose which ones I wanted to transition into the hunter/jumper world much more effectively. If they're mellow and level-headed going up the track, by the time we get them home, give them turnout time, and take them off of the high-enrichment grain that the they have at the track, usually within two weeks you have a totally different horse,” said Nathan.Portos wins an allowance at Keeneland in April 2021 | CoadyBy the time Nathan was introduced to Portos, the then 6-year-old had already spent time in the barns of four other trainers prior to being claimed by Chichakly. Earlier in his career, the son of Tapit finished third in the 2020 GIII Withers Stakes as a 3-year-old, collected stakes-placings at both ages 4 and 5, but never quite showed the talent to remain competitive in the higher levels of races.Portos was moved to the barn of trainer Wayne Potts later that summer, where he remained through the end of his racing career. Though Nathan had only known the gelding for a short time, she vowed to keep up with Portos in hopes of being the one that could one day bring him home.Yet all planning for the future came to a halt the day she received the dreaded call in March of 2024: Portos had suffered a condylar fracture of his left hind cannon bone and the prognosis was uncertain.“I had never driven so fast to Belmont in my life. I went to his stall in Wayne's barn and just sat on the ground sobbing. They told me he had trained beautifully the day before, then put him in the stall overnight, and by the next day he was non-weight bearing behind,” said Nathan. “I'm grateful to his owners who decided to go ahead with the surgery. He had two screws placed in the fetlock and then was sent to rehab. By that winter, he was back in training and cleared to race again with no limitations.”Upon his return to the track, Portos made six starts through the end of his 7-year-old season into the early spring of his 8-year-old year in 2025. After making the 41st start of his career, connections made the decision to retire their war horse, and Nathan got the call she had been waiting two years to receive.“He's got way too much personality for his own good but when he's under saddle, he is a true gentleman and has a fabulous work ethic on the ground. He's a menace to society in the funniest ways. Truly a comeback kid, he's a tough guy, a total goofball, and I adore him,” said Nathan.Portos and Kathleen Nathan in the hunter ring | Bryan NigroJoining the herd at Nathan's lesson barn, comprised mainly of off-track Thoroughbreds, 9-year-old Portos has taken to the life of a hunter/jumper with aplomb. All of his post-track training will be on display this week as Portos and Nathan compete in the show hunter and show jumper divisions at the Retired Racehorse Project (RRP)'s 2026 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.It will be a bittersweet experience for Nathan as she mourns the loss of her heart horse, Cherry Wine (Paddy O'Prado), who tragically passed away last month. Having made a name for himself in 2016 with a second-place finish in the GI Preakness Stakes, along with a third in the GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes that year, Cherry Wine retired in 2018 after making 21 starts. Following his retirement, trainer Dale Romans gifted the gray to Nathan. In the years that followed, Cherry Wine took his talents to the hunter ring, among the many adventures he shared with Nathan.“If it wasn't for Portos, I wouldn't have the drive or the desire to do this right now. I'm so heartbroken over losing Cherry, but this is the kismet I need to get through this transition period,” said Nathan. “I lost my heart horse, but this one kind of snuck in the backdoor and has already taken a huge piece of my heart. Portos has been my lifeline for this past month.“I didn't think I would ever see him again after he broke his leg, let alone that he would return to racing, so for things to come full circle where I could take Portos on to his next career has been really special. We're going to continue to develop him as a hunter. He has the ambition for it and when it comes to his character, he's so full of grit.”This will mark Nathan's second trip to the Thoroughbred Makeover, following her first experience in 2022 with two entries.“I think it's a fabulous way to demonstrate how versatile and intelligent these Thoroughbreds are. In 2022, we took a horse that had literally retired that July and was able to compete around a course of fences by October. There are so many incredible horses that excel in a variety of disciplines, and to be able to show that off in one place is truly remarkable,” said Nathan. “I've never been to a show where everybody was so willing to help each other. It's the most camaraderie I've ever seen at an event and I'm really looking forward to that environment again.”Portos and Kathleen Nathan go for a ride on the beach | Natalie Loizzo PhotographyPortos is one of hundreds of retired racehorses that have traveled to the Bluegrass to compete across 10 equestrian disciplines at this year's Thoroughbred Makeover, which takes place Wednesday, Oct. 7 through Saturday, Oct. 10. This season, the RRP will also host Graduate Classes, providing an opportunity for Thoroughbred Makeover alumni to compete at the Kentucky Horse Park once again.Some notable names among this year's class of Thoroughbred Makeover competitors include multiple graded stakes winner Prince Abama (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}); graded stakes winners Donegal Momentum (Uncle Mo), Majestic Eagle (Medaglia d'Oro), Opry (Declaration of War); multiple graded stakes-placed South Bend (Algorithms); graded stakes-placed Altissimo (Noble Causeway), Grand Aspen (Dialed In), Harry Hood (First Samurai), Portos, Runnin' Ray (Street Sense), Wendell Fong (Flat Out); and stakes winners Beeline (Bee Jersey), Classical Cat (Mendelssohn), Donut God (Into Mischief), Field Day (Broken Vow), Like a Saltshaker (Peace and Justice), Rustler (Dominus).“I love the heart of the Thoroughbred,” said Nathan. “I don't think you'll find a more gritty, hardier horse than a Thoroughbred because they want it more, in my opinion.”To learn more about the 2026 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, click here.The post ‘He’s Been My Lifeline’: Kathleen Nathan Returns To Thoroughbred Makeover With Portos appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.