Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes (Group 1)

THE Group 1 Falmouth Stakes was expected to be a walk in the park for John and Thady Gosden’s Inspiral, and much was made of Frankie Dettori’s return to the fold the fallout of Royal Ascot, where his one bright spot was her win in the Coronation Stakes.

The script was written, but reality doesn’t always respect expectations, and Inspiral failed to show the same sparkle, finishing a one-and-three-quarter-length second to Prosperous Voyage (Ralph Beckett/Rob Hornby), who attracted late support into an SP of 16/1 despite having finished only 10th behind Inspiral at Royal Ascot.

Sandrine, seventh in the Coronation Stakes, also fared better here, and finished third, just a length behind Inspiral, and well clear of the other pair.

Strong pace

Prosperous Voyage set a strong pace, and although Inspiral briefly looked like sweeping past, she soon came off the bridle, and it was the winner who responded best to pressure up the hill.

In fairness to her, she had run a cracker to be second in the 1000 Guineas, and split Inspiral and Guineas winner Cachet in the Fillies’ Mile here last autumn, so she wasn’t a completely left-field winner, with her Ascot effort a rare flop.

Sandrine also saves her best for Newmarket, winning the Duchess of Cambridge at this meeting 12 months ago, and a fine second in the Cheveley Park. She also ran well from a poor draw in the Guineas, and seemed to return to that level of form here, keeping tabs on the winner from the start, and weakening only late.

Autumn campaign

Frankie Dettori reported that Inspiral had run as if not over her reappearance run at Ascot, and perhaps didn’t enjoy the very quick ground. Chris Richardson of Cheveley Park Stud suggested she would be given a break to recover, and prepared for an autumn campaign.

Dettori’s disappointment may have been the initial reaction, but this was also Rob Hornby’s elation, and the rider has gained many admirers for his stoicism after being jocked off Irish Derby winner Westover.

On top of that, he had to deal with the gallops’ loss of Scope, who had provided him with his only previous Group 1 win in the Prix Royal-Oak.

Few, then, would begrudge him a big success, and he was typically self deprecating in victory.