FRANKIE DETTORI’S biggest rival Ryan Moore has admitted Inspiral will be very tough to beat in Satuday’s feature race at Newmarket.
The Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes is this weekend’s highlight and a win for Dettori would give him a landmark 500th win at the home of racing.
Although Newmarket has been a happy hunting ground for Dettori, the same hasn’t been the case in the Sun Chariot.
He’s won the race once, all the way back in 1992 on Red Slippers for Luca Cumani.
Can he bridge that 21-year gap on Saturday? His biggest competition in the saddle Ryan Moore certainly thinks so.
He rides Meditate in the race for his boss Aidan O’Brien but freely admits that Inspiral will be tough to peg back.
He told Betfair: “I suspect Inspiral will be hard to beat if bringing her A-game but, that said, the French horse is bidding for her third straight Group 1 and pretty much boasts the same level of form, if on an easier surface admittedly.
“Any drying of the ground will be in my filly’s favour and she hopefully showed she was on the way back in first-time blinkers in the Matron Stakes last time.
“Actually, if you take out her soft ground runs, she has actually run to a consistently good level this season and hopefully she will have sharpened up for that run off a break at Leopardstown last time.
“She has a fighting chance against the top two. if at her best.”
Moore’s biggest chance of the day looks to be Whispering Words, a rare ride for Charlie Appleby and Godolphin.
He also has a fighting chance on Decoration, who should have plenty of improvement left in the locker.
Moore added: “A mark of 88 looks okay on Whispering Word’s form over 7f/1m to date and this Dubawi filly could well be suited by the step up to 1m2f on her handicap debut.
“You can obviously disregard her run last time and this Frankel filly had earlier run well in defeat at Windsor.
“She is 4lb higher here though and is unproven over 1m4f, but she is obviously lightly-raced and her pedigree would give you a fair amount of confidence that this longer trip would suit.”
As for Dettori, he has one other ride on the card, Queen Emma in the 1m4f fillies’ handicap.
She wasn’t beaten far at Doncaster last time and with the promise of more to come, she commands plenty of respect.
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