With the Shergar Cup meeting at Ascot taking centre stage, this coming weekend sees an absence of top-tier action on British shores. However, those seeking a Group 1 fix need only turn their attention to the other side of the Irish Sea or look across The Channel.
Saturday sees the excellent Phoenix Stakes serve as the main attraction on a quality card at the Curragh, whilst a little under 24 hours later, Deauville plays host to one of the most prestigious one-mile contests of the season, as a field of eight chases a very handsome £869,565 in prize money and Group 1 glory in the Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques Le Marois.
Britain Sends Three-Pronged Attack Into Battle
A little surprisingly for a major international contest, the strongest challenge from Britain and Ireland emerges not from the yard of Aidan O’Brien, but rather a quartet of UK-based trainers. O’Brien has, in fact, won this only once, with Excelebration in 2012. The British yards have fared rather better, with six wins since 2014. Will any of the following four join Kingman, Ribchester, and Palace Pier on the roll of honour?
Inspiral
- Trainer – John & Thady Gosden
- Sire – Frankel
- Group 1 Wins – Fillies’ Mile (2021), Coronation Stakes (2022), Jacques Le Marois (2022, 2023), Sun Chariot Stakes (2023), Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (2023)
Of the three British runners, Inspiral arrives with the most robust CV. Successful six times at the highest level, she has proven to be a natural on the international stage, with big wins in the UK, USA, and the past two editions of this. She also goes for a trainer in John Gosden, who is the most successful overseas handler in the race, having also won with Palace Pier (2020, 2021) and Kingman (2014).
Should Inspiral win, Gosden will become the first modern-day trainer to land the Jacques Le Marois in five successive years, and the daughter of Frankel will move out on her own as the most successful horse in the history of the event.
So far, so promising. However, there is a rather large negative, as Inspiral has performed abysmally in her two outings this season – beaten over six lengths in the Lockingfe Stakes and Prince of Wales’s Stakes. Frustrated with her efforts, Cheveley Park Stud have dispensed with the services of Kieran Shoemark for this assignment. Ryan Moore takes over for the first time as he bids to register a first win in the race.
Haatem
- Trainer – Richard Hannon
- Sire – Phoenix Of Spain
- Group 1 Wins – None
Richard Hannon is no stranger to success on French soil, having won the Prix de la Forêt, Prix Jean Romanet, and Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère since 2014. He is yet to plunder this pot, but in Haatem, he may have the horse to do it.
An impressive winner of the Craven Stakes, this son of the Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain has yet to score in Group 1 company, but he couldn’t have come much closer. Third behind Notable Speech and Rosallion in the 2000 Guineas, he then came within a head of emulating his sire in the Irish version of the race. His conquerors in those two events are the standout three-year-old colts of the season to date, and he may be unlucky to run into one so good here. Tough as old boots and arriving on the back of a Jersey Stakes success, he boasts sound claims.
Quddwah
- Trainer – Simon & Ed Crisford
- Sire – Kingman
- Group 1 Wins – None
Eight go to post, but only one arrives with an unblemished record. That honour falls to Quddwah. Sired by the 2014 winner of this, and out of the mare Sajjha, who scored twice in Group 1 company, he was bred to be good. So far, he has lived up to that billing.
Scoring in Maiden and Novice company during his juvenile campaign, he produced a strong finishing effort to get up by a neck in the Listed Paradise Stakes on his seasonal return. Next stop, the Group 2 Summer Mile, as the strapping colt continued his ascent through the ranks. Only ½l clear at the line, he looked value for more than that with the race in safe keeping from over a furlong out. He’s earned his shot at this, and we may not have seen the best of him yet.
Charyn
- Trainer – Roger Varian
- Sire – Dark Angel
- Group 1 Wins – Queen Anne Stakes
Last, but by no means least, this year’s Queen Anne Stakes hero, Charyn. Before Royal Ascot, this son of the speedy Dark Angel had appeared just short of Group 1 class – winning twice in Group 2 company but coming up short in the Prix Jean Prat, Irish 2000 Guineas, St. James’s Palace Stakes, Sussex Stakes, and Lockinge Stakes.
However, the evidence from 2024 suggests this colt has improved significantly from three to four. Comfortably scoring at Listed and Group 2 level on his first two starts, he finished with a flourish to grab second in a strangely run Lockinge before his finest hour arrived at the Royal Meeting. Having slammed Big Rock, Facteur Cheval, Audience, and the rest in that 1m event, he may be the horse to hand his talented trainer a sixth French Group 1.