Prix Jacques le Marois preview and tip

What the trainers say

Royal Ascot winners Coroebus, Inspiral and State Of Rest will go head-to-head in a delicious re-run of the Prix Jacques le Marois in Deauville on Sunday.

Coroebus has suffered defeat just once in five starts for Charlie Appleby and has been flawless so far this season – beating stablemate Native Trail to give his trainer a first win in 2000 guineas before earning a narrow victory at St James’s Palace stakes posted.

The Dubawi colt missed his scheduled run in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood last month due to a setback, but jockey William Buick reports he is back on form and is keen to renew the partnership.

He said: “There’s not much we can say about him that hasn’t already been said. He had a setback and everything is fine. He seems in good form and it’s a good race as you would expect. We look forward to seeing him again. I’ve sat on him a few times at home and he’s fine. He’s drawn nine and it’s a straight mile. It’s usually always a fair distance, so that’s nothing to worry about. The ground looks fast but last time I was there there was a nice grass cover and hopefully Sunday will be the same.”

John and Thady Gosdens Inspiring was in a different league to her peers as a two-year-old, looking better than ever when she belatedly reappeared on the Coronation Stakes at the Royal Meeting.

She suffered a shock defeat at Falmouth in Newmarket last month when she was beaten by Ralph Beckett’s Prosperous Voyage, who are again in opposition, with the dreaded ‘bounce’ factor to blame. But after riding her in a crucial practice session at Newmarket earlier in the week, jockey Frankie Dettori is hoping Inspiral will show her true colors.

“I know she had a little slip at Newmarket last time but after the long break she has to be excused and sometimes horses can throw in a bad one. If I say bad, she was second, but she didn’t. She can’t reach her full potential,” the Italian told Sky Sports Racing.

“She is a very exciting filly and was champion two-year-old filly last season. We have to take on the boys and the older horses, so we’re going in at the deep end – come on girls!”

state of calm has won four times at the highest level for Joseph O’Brien – twice in Australia, once in France and once in Great Britain after landing the Prince of Wales’s Stakes in June. While all of these triumphs have been achieved at around 1.5 miles, O’Brien is excited to see if he can prove just as effective at a mile this weekend.

He said: “We were very happy with him, he trained very well. It’s looking like a tough race over the weekend but we’re looking forward to seeing how he fares at a mile. He is a horse that has always shown a lot of speed and it will be interesting to see how he can perform over shorter distances.

“Every day he gets out on the track, shows up and has no problem leading like he did last time. I think he can do very well over a mile, if he can win a group one over a mile we’ll find out over the weekend. He has proven to be a top class horse. I think it’s pretty obvious that he’s easily ridden, whether he gets a lead or not. It comes to him one way or another.”

Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore team up with the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Mile Order of Australiawho is recovering from a disappointing run in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood.

“Last time he clearly didn’t run his race in the Sussex Stakes – I don’t think he likes the downhill course there – so I’d tend to trim the power and focus on his best effort, that’s giving him Definitely a chance here,” Moore told Betfair.

“He doesn’t need to lead but he’s very good when it comes to getting to the front and he took an excellent third place in that race last season before riding Baaeed for a length and a half at Longchamp. That’s the correct Group 1 form in any language and I often feel like he’s underrated in these races.”

Verdict from local man:

2000 guineas winner COROEBUS couldn’t reach the same level at St James’s Palace at Ascot but was still good enough to win. He missed a duel with Baaeed at Goodwood but arrives fresh and is the one to beat. Prosperous Voyage was a surprise winner of the Falmouth at Newmarket when Inspiral suffered their first defeat and the latter is a major threat if they return to their best form while State Of Rest are back after landing another Group 1 race at Ascot Losing distance and being preferred to last is the third Order Of Australia of the year, who last finished behind Japanese stallion Bathrat Leon in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood. The light infantry is still improving, judging by its second place finish in the Prix Jean Prat here, while the unassuming and progressive Erevann is preferred to stablemate Djo Francais by the home challenge.

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