Inspiral takes on top males in Jacques Le Marois

Inspiral, the leading 3-year-old filly miler in England, and Coroebus, the top 3-year-old colt miler in England, face off Sunday in France, where both start in the Group 1 Prix Jacques Le Marois at Deauville Racecourse.

John Gosden, who co-trains Inspiral with his son Thady, won the last two renewals of the Marois with Palace Pier.

The straight-course mile is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” series, offering automatic fees-paid berth in the BC Mile and travel expenses to Keeneland.

The Deauville course as of Friday was rated good to soft. Post time for the Marois is 9:55 a.m. Eastern, with live video and wagering at DRFBets.com.

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Inspiral rated as the top 2-year-old filly in Europe during 2021, when she went 4 for 4 and capped her campaign with a win in the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile. She was slow to come around this past spring, missing her chance at the 1000 Guineas but instead launching her season with a smashing score in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes on June 17 at Royal Ascot. Inspiral probably ran too well for her own good that afternoon. She was flat when back in action July 7, defeated as the odds-on favorite in the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket by Prosperous Voyage, a fellow 3-year-old filly who takes on Inspiral again in the Marois. Now, Inspiral has gotten a good breather between starts and ought to be at the peak of her powers. At her best, Inspiral comfortably defeated Prosperous Voyage their three previous meetings.

Inspiral and Prosperous Voyage get 10 pounds from the older males in the race, a group presumably led by the Joseph O’Brien-trained State of Rest, whose four Group 1 and Grade 1 wins have come over 1 3/16 or 1 1/4 miles. State of Rest is a top-level winner on three continents, with victories last year in the Cox Plate in Australia and the Saratoga Derby Invitational. In his most recent, a career best, he captured the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.

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Coroebus could be the Marois favorite. Winner of the 2000 Guineas in his 2022 debut and the Group 1 St. James’s Palace at Royal Ascot, Coroebus had to be scratched from a highly anticipated meeting with Baaeed in the Sussex Stakes last month after developing an abscess in a hind pastern. Coroebus, trained for Godolphin by Charlie Appleby, gives four pounds to the 3-year-old fillies but gets six from the older horses. So far, he has raced only over courses rated good or good to firm.

The 3-year-old Erevann takes a major step up in class but has started his career with three wins. The Aga Khan homebred trained by Jean-Claude Rouget is by Dubawi and is the second foal to race from the multiple Group 1-winning miler Ervedya.