Inspiral makes 5-year-old debut in Lockinge Stakes

It took Inspiral three starts to find herself when she returned to the races from a winter break in 2023. Inspiral, however, won her first start of 2021 and 2022, and on Saturday we will see whether the 5-year-old version of the mare comes out firing.

Inspiral was one of 11 final declarations for the J.T. Lockinge Stakes, the first older-horse Group 1 of the year in England. The straight mile at Newbury is a key fixture on the calendar on its own but also serves as a stepping-stone toward the Group 1 Queen Anne, the first race of the Royal Ascot meeting.

Inspiral in fact made her first start last year in the Queen Anne, finishing a close second to an inferior rival, Triple Time. Second out, she failed to handle a sodden Goodwood course in the Sussex Stakes, coming home last of five, but after that, Inspiral proved untouchable. She beat males in the Prix Jacques Le Marois at Deauville before galloping to victory in the Sun Chariot Stakes and wowing an American audience with a breathtaking finish to capture the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

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David and Patricia Thompson’s Cheveley Park Stud, which bred and owns Inspiral, soon thereafter announced the mare would return for a fourth year of racing in 2024. Inspiral, trained by John and Thady Gosden, has won at least one Group 1 in each of her previous three seasons and barring a setback will win another at some point this year. And if the going at Newbury is firm enough for her liking – the course on Thursday was rated good to soft – that could come immediately.

Big Rock, no match for Inspiral in the Marois last year, nearly was co-favored with her Thursday in betting with English bookmakers. Four-year-old Big Rock, based in France, managed a second behind the brilliant Ace Impact racing 1 5/16 miles in the French Derby and came further forward after being cut back to one mile in his final three outings of 2023. Big Rock ended his campaign with a six-length romp in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, demonstrating that he had improved considerably into the fall – and that he was a superior horse on soft ground. The firmer the footing, the less chance Big Rock has to knock off Inspiral in his season’s debut.

Charyn, another 4-year-old, was a notch or two below Group 1 class as a 3-year-old of 2023 but does hold a recency edge on Inspiral and Big Rock, having already raced and won twice this season, landing the Group 2 Sandown Mile on April 26.

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