Inspiral moved into the world’s Top Ten on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s exclusive Global Rankings with the fifth G1 triumph of her career in the Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday.
Having beaten her male counterparts in the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville on her previous outing, the Cheveley Park Stud’s four-year-old was sent off odds-on favourite before completing back-to-back G1 successes in consummate style, easing down to score by 3¾ lengths from French G1 winner Mqse De Sevigne.
Inspiral’s victory also represented a career landmark for her jockey Frankie Dettori as he recorded the 500th winner at his home venue in the final season of his illustrious career. Dettori’s first Newmarket winner had come more than 35 years previously when he was a 17-year-old apprentice.
Inspiral moves up to #8 (from #16, ≠132pt) on the Global Rankings, led for the 27th consecutive week by Japanese star Equinox, set to reappear later this month in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) as a prelude to the Japan Cup.
As for Inspiral, her co-trainer John Gosden suggesting either or both of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Mile might figure on the immediate agenda for the homebred daughter of Frankel.
“She was in top form today,” said Gosden. “The ground was quick, and she runs on anything bar the heavy of Goodwood. She showed a lot of class today, there is no doubt about it. She travelled well and there was a good pace.
“We missed the Lockinge as she had a muscle spasm problem so by the time we got to Royal Ascot she was only about 80 per cent fit,” he went on. “She was only beaten a neck that day and she got a touch tired in the last half a furlong, but she has been faultless since.
“She had an elaborate piece of work in the Sussex Stakes, but we were clear if she didn’t handle the ground we would wrap up on her and head to Deauville.
“There was a lot more pressure on today as she is a very good filly, and the ground is quicker here than we would expect to find here in the autumn. It is real fast summer ground, but she has run absolutely superbly, and I couldn’t be more pleased.
“She is in the QEII and she could be entered at the Breeders’ Cup but we won’t make a decision for at least a week or two.”
Up To The Mark’s status as that rarest of beasts in the current era – a top-grade US turf performer – is reflected in his move up to #11 (from #57, +217pt) after completing a G1 hat-trick in the Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland, where he touched off Godolphin’s Master Of The Seas.
The Breeders’ Cup beckons, though it looks as if the Todd Pletcher-trained four-year-old will step up to a mile and a half for the Turf rather than sticking at a mile.
• Unlike traditional methods of racehorse rankings, TRC Global Rankings are a measure of an individual’s level of achievement over a rolling three-year period, providing a principled hierarchy of the leading horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and sires using statistical learning techniques. Racehorse rankings can be compared to similar exercises in other sports, like the golf’s world rankings or the ATP rankings in tennis.
They are formulated from the last three years of races we consider Group or Graded class all over the world and update automatically each week according to the quality of a horse’s performances and their recency, taking into account how races work out.
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