The Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes over the Rowley Mile is set to bring the curtain down on the career of Inspiral. Trained locally in Newmarket by John & Thady Gosden, Cheveley Park Stud’s five-year-old mare faces five rivals on the track as she seeks successive wins in the race.
Competition for Inspiral includes Nashwa from within her own stable. The Gosden pair concede 3lb weight for age to four three-year-olds. They are 1000 Guineas winner Elmalka and fourth Tamfana, Darnation who landed the German equivalent, and Nassau Stakes second See The Fire.
It’s a small but select field of Sun Chariot Stakes runners, but an open race based on how horse racing betting sites price it up. This is our expert guide to the 2024 edition of a contest first ran in 1966. Originally just open to three-year-olds with a mile-and-a-quarter distance, older fillies could compete from 1974.
Reduced in distance to a mile in 2000, four years later it achieved Group 1 status. Multiple Sun Chariot winners are rare. Free Guest won back-to-back renewals in the mid-1980s, while American-bred, French-trained Sahpresa notched a hat-trick from 2009 to 2011. Let’s look at each of the six fillies running this year in more detail.
Sun Chariot Stakes 2024 Runners Guide
1. Inspiral
- Age: 5
- Draw: Stall 1
- Official Rating: 117
- Weight: 9st 5lb
- Sire: Frankel
- Dam: Starscope
- Damsire: Selkirk
- Jockey: Rab Havlin
- Owner: Cheveley Park Stud
- Trainers: John & Thady Gosden
- Form: 1111/1216/25111-463
- Notable Wins: 2021 Fillies’ Mile, 2022 Coronation Stakes, 2022 & 2023 Prix Jacques Le Marois, 2023 Sun Chariot Stakes, 2023 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf
Six-time Group / Grade 1 winning mare, but not reached those heights this season. Impressive when landing this race 12 months ago and went on to Breeders’ Cup glory in America. Disappointing fourth in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on reappearance and when sixth in the Prince Of Wales during Royal Ascot. Must improve on Jacques Le Marois third latest, having won that event in the last two years.
2. Nashwa
- Age: 5
- Draw: Stall 3
- Official Rating: 120
- Weight: 9st 5lb
- Sire: Frankel
- Dam: Princess Loulou
- Damsire: Pivotal
- Jockey: Hollie Doyle
- Owner: Imad Alsagar
- Trainers: John & Thady Gosden
- Form: 3/1131124/4213236-9
- Notable Wins: 2022 Prix de Diane, 2022 Nassau Stakes, 2023 Falmouth Stakes
Contemporary of Inspiral, but only won half as many Group 1s as her stable companion. Making UK reappearance after just one run in the Middle East in the last 12 months. Could need the run, but pick of 2023 form including Juddmonte International second and Irish Champion Stakes third gives her claims back against her own sex.
3. Darnation
- Age: 3
- Draw: Stall 2
- Official Rating: 109
- Weight: 9st 2lb
- Sire: Too Darn Hot
- Dam: Monday Monday
- Damsire: Galileo
- Jockey: Sam James
- Owner: Newtown Anner Stud
- Trainer: Karl Burke
- Form: 31115-0125
- Notable Wins: 2024 German 1000 Guineas
Dual Group 2 winner over a mile including a European Classic in the spring. No better than fifth in three tries at the highest level including German Oaks over much further latest, however. Good record on soft ground, but drying forecast against her. The clear outsider from Sun Chariot Stakes runners who needs the most improvement.
4. Elmalka
- Age: 3
- Draw: Stall 4
- Official Rating: 113
- Weight: 9st 2lb
- Sire: Kingman
- Dam: Nahrain
- Damsire: Selkirk
- Jockey: William Buick
- Owner: Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum
- Trainer: Roger Varian
- Form: 1-3144
- Notable Wins: 2024 Qipco 2000 Guineas
Shock 28/1 Classic course and distance winner in the spring. Not able to replicate her 1000 Guineas heroics since with two fourths at Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood. Seen 1000 Guineas form reversed on her in those efforts over the summer. Trained locally to the course, so revival can’t be ruled out but others appeal more.
5. See The Fire
- Age: 3
- Draw: Stall 5
- Official Rating: 114
- Weight: 9st 2lb
- Sire: Sea The Stars
- Dam: Arabian Queen
- Damsire: Dubawi
- Jockey: Oisin Muphy
- Owner: Jeff Smith
- Trainer: Andrew Balding
- Form: 123-05421
- Notable Wins: 2024 Strensall Stakes
Group 3 winner at York who ran third in the Fillies’ Mile over course and distance last season. Improved on 1000 Guineas flop and Coronation Stakes fifth with fine fourth in the Coral-Eclipse around Sandown. Neck second in the Nassau Stakes. Should be a stronger stayer down in trip again here. One of the Sun Chariot Stakes runners capable of better this year.
6. Tamfana
- Age: 3
- Draw: Stall 6
- Official Rating: 113
- Weight: 9st 2lb
- Sire: Soldier Hollow
- Dam: Tres Magnifique
- Damsire: Zoffany
- Jockey: Colin Keane
- Owners: Quantum Leap Racing & Friends
- Trainer: David Menuisier
- Form: 311-34341
- Notable Wins: Atalanta Stakes
Eye-catching fourth in the 1000 Guineas as denied a clear run and only beaten by a length. Even closer third in the Prix de Diane and non-stayer when fourth in the Grand Prix de Paris over even further. Successfully dropped back in trip for Sandown Group 3 success over this distance latest. May have come into form at just the right time after trying different distances. Shortlisted.
Sun Chariot Stakes Odds, Betting & Verdict
- Tamfana 5/2
- Inspiral 3/1
- See The Fire 9/2
- Nashwa 5/1
- Elmalka 9/1
- Darnation 50/1
TAMFANA looks the right favourite despite an enforced change of jockey. She appears the most versatile as regards ground. Inspiral just hasn’t had the same spark as a five-year-old this term, meanwhile, and stable companion Nashwa will surely need the run after 189 days off the track.
See The Fire should be staying on when others have cried enough or their fitness gives out. Elmalka’s Classic success may have been a fluke, while Darnation needs a career best if she’s to avoid the wooden spoon. There’s over £3,700 in prize money for finishing last of the six.
