France: Inspiral edges Light Infantry in Prix Jacques Le Marois

Inspiral avenged her lone loss, beat male rivals, and notched her third Group 1 victory in the Prix Jacques Le Marois on Sunday at Deauville Racecourse in France.

Unbeaten in four starts as a 2-year-old of 2021 and her campaign capped by a win in the Group 1 Fillies Mile, Inspiral picked up at 3 where she left off at 2 with a dominant victory in the Coronation Cup at Royal Ascot in June. It had taken co-trainers John and Thady Gosden all spring to get Inspiral right, and the filly might have been too sharp in her comeback score, as she appeared to bounce in finishing a subpar second behind Prosperous Voyage in the Falmouth Stakes on July 8.

While Prosperous Voyage could finish only sixth on Sunday, suggesting her Falmouth upset was a mere blip, Inspiral returned to form, rallying between horses from mid-pack under Frankie Dettori to win the Marois by a neck.

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Inspiral was a close second choice to 3-year-old colt Coroebus, winner of the 2000 Guineas in May and the St. James’s Palace in June but a one-paced fifth in the Marois while giving 3-year-old filly Inspiral three pounds. It was a less-heralded 3-year-old colt, Light Infantry, who made a run at Inspiral, just falling short while finishing a neck in front of another 3-year-old colt, Erevann.

Last month in the Prix Jean Prat at Deauville, Light Infantry had been second to another 3-year-old filly, Tenebrism. Light Infantry, trainer David Simcock said, is headed to Australia to race later this summer.

Erevann, an Aga Khan homebred making his fourth career start and Group 1 debut, brims with promise, and trainer Jean-Claude Rouget expressed confidence Erevann would become a top-class colt next year.

Inspiral is top class right now. John Gosden said the filly relaxed much better for Dettori on Sunday than she had in the Falmouth, and the proof was in the outcome. Inspiral, owned by her breeder, Cheveley Park Stud, clocked a quick 1:34.07. Inspiral is by Frankel out of the Selkirk mare, Starscope.

The Marois is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” series, offering automatic fees-paid entry into the BC Mile and travel expense to Keeneland this fall, but no immediate plans were announced for Inspiral.