Inspiral tries to get back on track in Sun Chariot

Things have not gone right this year for Inspiral, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita last November.

Inspiral is winless in three starts, a trend that may be reversed in Saturday’s Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes at a mile at Newmarket Racecourse in Britain.

Inspiral may not be favored. The $360,700 Sun Chariot Stakes drew a field of six, notably the 3-year-old Tamfana, a Group 3 stakes winner at Sandown Racecourse near London in late August.

As of Thursday, Tamfana was the 5-2 favorite, a slight choice over Inspiral at 3-1.

Inspiral has raced at the highest level through the year for trainers John and Thady Gosden. Racing against males earlier this year in Group 1 races, Inspiral was fourth in the Lockinge Stakes at a mile at Newbury Racecourse in May, sixth of 10 in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Royal Ascot on June 19, and third by 3 1/4 lengths after a slow start in the Prix Jacques Le Marois at a mile at Deauville, France, on Aug. 11.

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Inspiral won the Jacques Le Marois in 2022 and 2023.

Ryan Moore rode Inspiral at Deauville, but Robert Havlin will have the mount for the Sun Chariot. Havlin rode the 5-year-old Inspiral to a maiden win in her debut in June 2021.

Tamfana, a German-bred who has won 3 of 8 starts, was third in the Group 1 French Oaks in June, and fourth behind Sosie in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris at 1 1/2 miles at Longchamp for 3-year-old colts and fillies in July. Sosie is one of the leading contenders for Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Paris.

After the loss at Longchamp, Tamfana rebounded to win the Group 3 Atalanta Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile by 2 3/4 lengths at Sandown for trainer David Menuisier.

Nashwa and See the Fire are two other notable runners in the Sun Chariot. Nashwa, trained by the Gosdens, won the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes at a mile for fillies and mares in the summer of 2023. The Sun Chariot will be her first start since a ninth-place finish in the Group 1 Dubai Turf against males at 1 1/8 miles in the United Arab Emirates in March.

See the Fire, trained by Andrew Balding, was second in the Group 1 Nassau Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles at Goodwood Racecourse on Aug. 1 and closed from the back of a field of nine to win the first stakes of her career in her eighth start in the Group 3 Strensall Stakes against males at 1 1/8 miles at York Racecourse on Aug. 24.

Arc weekend begins

The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe weekend at Longchamp begins on Saturday with five graded stakes on a nine-race program.

The two Group 1 races on Saturday’s card, each worth $330,870, are the Prix du Cadran at 2 1/2 miles and the Prix de Royallieu for fillies and mares at 1 3/4 miles.

Kyprios, unbeaten in five starts this year, will be a massive favorite to win the Prix du Cadran for trainer Aidan O’Brien and jockey Ryan Moore. Kyprios won the Group 1 Irish St. Leger in his last start on Sept. 15.

Term of Endearment, trained in Ireland by Henry de Bromhead, will be favored in a field of 16 to win her first Group 1 in the Prix de Royallieu. Term of Endearment, 5, won the Group 2 Lillie Langtry Stakes at 1 3/4 miles at Goodwood on Aug. 3.

De Bromhead is well known for his success on the jump racing circuit in Britain and Ireland.

Two British imports – Mistral Star and One Evening, both minor stakes winners in staying races in the last year – are well regarded in the Prix de Royallieu.

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