Inns Of Court & Thunder Snow just denied in Prix Jacques le Marois

Inns Of Court and Thunder Snow lost out to Al Wukair in the final strides when finishing second and third in a breathtaking finish to the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois over a mile at Deauville, France, on Sunday, August 13.

Thunder Snow (Saeed bin Suroor/Christophe Soumillon) broke quickly and immediately led the field, with Inns Of Court (Andre Fabre/Mickael Barzalona) settling in last of the six runners. 

After being pressed by Al Wukair over a furlong from home, Thunder Snow found more in front and still held the advantage with half a furlong to race. 

Inns Of Court ran on strongly from the rear to join Thunder Snow entering the final 50 yards and edged ahead in the closing stages, only for Al Wukair to rally strongly between the Godolphin pair and get up on the line. 

Al Wukair prevailed by a short-head over Inns Of Court in 1m 38.51s on soft ground, with a short-neck back to Thunder Snow as the first three came home clear of Trais Fluors. 

Lisa-Jane Graffard of Godolphin commented: “Inns Of Court ran a fantastic race and lost nothing in defeat. 

“He stayed the mile well and we will definitely consider trying him over this trip again. He has shown that he is a very talented colt and hopefully his day will come.” 

Saeed bin Suroor said: “Thunder Snow has run another good race. We will have a look at aiming him at the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1, 1m, Ascot, October 21) now.”