Although very successful over two miles, he also excelled at longer distances, and won the 1961 Irish Grand National and finished second in the 1962 and 1963 Cheltenham Gold Cups.
Fortria contested the lead with Flame Gun (winner of the 1959 Cotswold Chase), who fell at the third last, before winning by three lengths from Blue Dolphin.
He started off by winning a hurdle race in Ireland, before travelling to Cheltenham for the newly introduced Mackeson Gold Cup over two miles.
Fortria stalked the pace in fifth before making progress down the hill to take the lead and win by six lengths from Icanopit (carrying just 10 st 3 lbs).
[5] Back in Ireland, Fortria defeated Albergo, dual winner of the Irish Champion Hurdle, in a chase over two miles three furlongs while conceding 19 lbs.
In the race, he came up against the other top chaser of the era, Mandarin, who had won two Hennessy Gold Cups and two King George VI Chases.
Fortria hit the front in what looked like a winning move, until Mandarin came driving up the inside under Fred Winter to triumph by a length.
Fortria won the Hermitage Chase over a two and half miles at Newbury, defeating Whitbread Gold Cup winner Hoodwinked by three lengths.
[12] He next ran in the Mackeson Gold Cup for the third time, where he was again allocated 12 st and faced two Champion Chase winners in Piperton and Sandy Abbot.
Sandy Abbot led the field while Fortria lingered further back until the last open ditch, where he moved forward with a great leap at the fence.
Coming to the last, he was strongly challenged by the lightly weighted School For Gamble and Owen's Sedge but refused to yield and galloped on to win by three lengths.
[16] Fortria recorded his final victory in a race in Ireland, then finished second in the Becher Steeplechase under a weight of 12 st 7 lbs after tiring and making a mistake at the last fence.