Jacques Le Marois glory for Inspiral

Frankel's daughter Inspiral took another step forward to defeat the colts and older horses in the Gr.1 Prix Jacques Le Marois at Deauville yesterday.

Taken from the Thoroughbred Daily News, 22nd August 2022, by Tom Frary:

Always travelling with abundant intent under Frankie Dettori as she craved action restrained a few lengths off the fierce pace duel up ahead, the Gr.1 Coronation Stakes and Gr.1 Fillies' Mile heroine worked her way to the fore with 300 metres remaining and had to give extra as the Gr.1 Prix Jean Prat runner-up Light Infantry emerged in the closing stages. Always a touch too strong for that rival, the 9-5 second favourite held a neck advantage at the line as the leading French hope Erevann joined in to be the same margin away in third.

"We were scratching our heads after Newmarket after an amazing performance in the Coronation, but today she was taking on Guineas winners and older horses and showed she's a true champion," Dettori said. "We went extremely fast throughout and I hit the front plenty early, but John thinks she can get a little bit further in time so I wasn't afraid about getting to the line. She travelled great and was on it today but she's a filly that you need to know - when she wants to go, she's the kind of filly you don't want to disappoint."

Inspiral, who had proven when ultra-impressive in the Coronation that she is the leading three-year-old filly in Europe, was up against a notable front-runner's bias in the Falmouth where Prosperous Voyagestole a march on her.

This was a return to her comfort zone, with the pace so strong up front that Prosperous Voyage was behind the aggressively-ridden trio of State Of Rest, Order Of Australia and Bathrat Leon. Finishing off at 1:34.07, she is behind only the Freddy Head starlets Goldikova and Moonlight Cloud in terms of winning time in the recent decades, with that duo out on their own in dipping under 1:34.

John Gosden, who was annexing a third straight win in a race he has won four times overall, was keen to revisit Inspiral's sole reversal at Newmarket. "It wasn't really that she was out of form last time - she'd had three weeks since Ascot and was in top form, but it was a small field and she didn't get any cover. She over-raced, did too much and didn't have much left at the end, which is her nature," he explained. "There was a strong pace today and they went hard up front, so she switched off and relaxed."

He added: "She probably hit the front a bit soon, to say the least, but the key with her is to get her relaxed early. She's very generous and wants to give and sometimes with that they're a little over-enthusiastic. You could go to a [Gr.1] Matron or a [Gr1] Sun Chariot, but I would be inclined to freshen up for the QEII which is her main aim. I prefer to go to the Breeders' Cup with older horses, so not this year."