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Inspiral (7/4) gave jockey Frankie Dettori and co-trainers John and Thady Gosden victory in Sunday’s Group 1 Prix du Haras de Fresnay-Le-Buffard Jacques le Marois at Deauville, France.
The daughter of Juddmonte Farms’ Frankel won out in a three-way tight battle with eventual second Light Infantry (22/1) and third-place finisher Erevann (11/1), with a neck and a neck separating the first three horses to finish.
It was a 1-2 for the British-trained horses as Inspiral got back to winning ways, and beat the colts, after her disappointing run in the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket, when beaten as a 1/7 favourite by the Ralph Beckett-handled Prosperous Voyage.
Japanese runner Bathrat Leon cut out the early pace and was pressed by Irish runners Order Of Australia from the Aidan O’Brien yard, and multiple Group 1-winner State Of Rest, trained by Joseph O’Brien.
When urged to challenge for the lead, Inspiral, began to take control as first State Of Rest and then Bathrat Leon were soon beaten.
As the Dettori-ridden filly was challenged on her inside by the David Simcock-conditioned Light Infantry (who will now likely target the Golden Eagle in Sydney, Australia, in October) and her outside by the previously unbeaten Jean-Claude Rouget colt Erevann, in the colours of The Aga Khan, Inspiral found more to hold off the colts for her third Group 1 win.
Interestingly the first three horses to cross the finishing line had all been help up in the early stages of the one-mile race for three-year-olds and upwards.
“Today she was taking on Guineas winners and older horses and showed she’s a true champion. I’m pleased she’s bounced back to her very best,” Frankie Dettori told Sky Sports Racing.
“We went extremely fast throughout. She’s a filly that you need to know and when she wanted to go, she’s the kind of filly you don’t want to disappoint. She was champion two-year-old and apart from the blip at Newmarket she hasn’t done much wrong,” Dettori explained to Sky Sports Racing.
The 2020 Grade 1 FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile winner at Keeneland, Order Of Australia, was fourth past the wire under Ryan Moore.
The disappointment of Deauville’s Sunday feature was the Godolphin-owned William Buick-ridden Coroebus, winner of the QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, England, in May, and the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot the following month. The Charlie Appleby-handled runner could only manage fifth of the nine-runner field, finishing five-and-a-quarter lengths behind the winning filly.
Inspiral, carrying the colours of Cheveley Park Stud, had a star juvenile campaign having won four races from four including the Group 2 Cazoo May Hill Stakes for fillies and the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket on 8 October 2021.
Sunday’s win was a record seventh success in the Prix du Haras de Fresnay-Le-Buffard Jacques le Marois for Italian jockey Frankie Dettori, who first won the Group 1 race with Dubai Millennium in 1999.
It was the third victory in a row for Dettori and John Gosden, having teamed up to claim the race in 2020 and 2021 with Palace Pier.
Photo: Inspiral taking the Coronation Stakes in June at Ascot (Megan Ridgwell)
