Inspiral back to best for Frankie Dettori and John and Thady Gosden
Coached by John and Thady Gosden, Inspiral was at her best again, winning the Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois.
The yard of Gosden won the Group 1 mile event at Deauville for the first time with Kingman in 2014 and after landing the last two overtimes with Palace Pier, courtesy of the Frankel filly by Cheveley Park ridden by Frankie Dettori, she scored, who claimed a record, hat-trick seventh triumph by Jacques Le Marois.
Inspiral had reportedly worked well after a shock defeat in the Falmouth Stakes at the July festival in Newmarket and was back on form by her belated debut of the season at Royal Ascot in June to win the Coronation Stakes.
Dettori was patient with the well supported 7/4 chance and came up between Order Of Austrlia and a flagging State Of Rest with a couple of furlongs in front.
Light infantry pursued the sidelines of the stands, but Inspiral comfortably kept up the pursuit of David Simcock’s 22/1 outsider, with locally trained 11/1 chance Erevann a close third.
The disappointment of the race was Coroebus, winner of the 2000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes, who got away very slowly but momentarily threatened to fight the middle of the course before breaking away in the final half-eighth to a well-held Race to finish fifth.
Paddy Power responded by cutting the winner from 11/4 for the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown over next month’s Irish Champions Weekend to 2/1.
Sky Bet goes 2/1 of 10/3 for the Matron, 2/4 of 4/1 in the Sun Chariot Stakes and 11/4 of 5/1 for the QEII at Ascot on QIPCO British Champions Day in October.
John Gosden suggested that Inspiral is unlikely to be held again before QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot in October.
“It wasn’t really that she was out of shape last time – she had three weeks (since Ascot) and was in top form but it was a small field and she didn’t get any coverage. She defected, did too much and ended up not having much left, which is her nature,” said the Clarehaven handler.
“Today there was a strong pace and they were riding hard in the front, Frankie said, so she switched off and relaxed and then she wanted to go and Frankie let her go. She probably hit the front lines a bit early, to say the least.
“She’s a three-year-old filly who competes with older horses and in return she gets a little weight which undoubtedly makes a difference. But I think she has shown her versatility and the key to her is to relax her early on. She is very generous and wants to give, and sometimes they are a little over-zealous about it.
“She did well today and showed a lot of courage in the last part – she could have easily folded. Maybe we’re just freshening up for the QEII. You could go to a matron or a sun chariot, but I’d be inclined to freshen up for the QEII.”
said Dettori Sky Sports Racing: “We were scratching our heads after Newmarket after an amazing performance in the coronation.
“Today she took on Guineas winners and older horses and showed that she is a true champion. I am happy that she is back to her best form.
“We drove extremely fast the whole time. She’s a filly to know and if she was going to go, she’s the kind of filly you wouldn’t want to disappoint.
“I still have a lot of time left to be up front but John thinks she can go a little further so I wasn’t afraid to get to the line. She was champion at two-year-olds and apart from the slip at Newmarket she didn’t do much wrong.”
Simcock was understandably delighted with the performance of the light infantry, which is now being prepared for a voyage to Australia.
“I am very proud of the horse and very satisfied. He had a gallop to run today, which was good, and he let his heart out and ran a personal best,” said the coach.
“I’m just glad we got here and ran well and won a nice prize. Onwards and upwards.”
He added: “He’ll probably go straight to the Golden Eagle in Sydney in October now. It will be his last run this year and then he will come back.”
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