Inspiral, Charlie Appleby and a 17-year-old jockey are among the big winners

The Racing Post's awards honour the best (and sometimes worst) performances and raise talking points from the last seven days of racing. This week's winners are . . .

Race of the week

Prix Jacques le Marois

A quality field at Deauville had a race to match as Inspiral proved her Falmouth flop to be a mere blip when storming back to top form, holding off David Simcock's outsider Light Infantry in a thrilling conclusion.

That Coroebus, after being slow out of the gate, and State Of Rest couldn't get involved was a touch disappointing, but it took nothing away from the contest as a spectacle with Inspiral blasting her way to the front when shaken up by Frankie Dettori and fending off challenges on either side. The perfect side dish for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Trainer of the week

Charlie Appleby

Britain's reigning champion trainer is well on the way to retaining his crown – he sits more than £300,000 clear of closest challenger William Haggas – and he boosted his purse even more with an excellent weekend on the track.

Doubles on Friday and Saturday across Newmarket and Newbury led in to a superb Sunday for the Godolphin trainer, embellished by Group 1 glory in Germany with Rebel's Romance and a Group 3 double at Deauville. Despite Coroebus's loss, Appleby still ended the week with a healthy 54 per cent strike-rate.

Ride of the week

Oisin Enright

The young jockey enjoyed a dream debut at the Curragh on Saturday with a cool and mature ride on Thaleeq.

Oisin Enright: won on his first ride at the Curragh on SaturdayCredit: Patrick McCann

The 17-year-old Enright was the only rider in the field without any race-riding experience and his hopes can't have been too high beforehand on the 20-1 shot, who had won only once in 20 attempts, but he plotted a careful route through a busy pack for an ultimately cosy win.

Enright, who received his riding licence only last month, was hailed as "a boy with a future" by Dermot Weld afterwards. He would know.

Surprise of the week

Oj Lifestyle stuns at 125-1 at Newbury

Oj Lifestyle had been beaten 22 lengths on his debut at Ascot in July at odds of 66-1, and little was expected as he lined up for his second start in a 12-runner maiden at Newbury on Friday.

What happened next shocked his trainer Gary Moore as much as it did punters as the son of Gleneagles edged out the heavy odds-on favourite Leadman by a nose, with little hint of a fluke about the performance. You might not see triple-figure odds about him again for a while.

Non-surprise of the week

Another trainer quits

The sun may have been shining on the track this summer, but the forecast off it has been rather gloomier with arguments rife over the future of the sport, and yet another warning sign was flashed on Monday when Group 1-winning trainer Harry Dunlop became the latest to signal his intention to quit the sport.

Harry Dunlop: plans to call it a dayCredit: Hugh Routledge

After news of the departures of Joe Tuite and Caroline Bailey earlier this summer, it came as little surprise that the various chronic problems affecting the sport would force another trainer to exit.

Arguments are rife over racing's future amid debates over historically low field sizes, boycotts over poor prize-money, staff shortages and a dire financial climate.

Ed Walker stressed the need for urgent action to be taken to address this matter, but the sad likelihood is Dunlop will not be the last to be forced out.

Gamble of the week

Tramore

An audacious attempt at landing a major pot came up just short at Tramore on Friday evening, leaving bookmakers breathing a huge sigh of relief.

The markets began moving on Friday morning with four horses – all trained or ridden by members of the Mullins family – substantially shortened in price, most notably Twoplustwo Equals, who had been a 100-1 shot before being backed all the way to 5-4 before the off.

Molly Fantasy (9-4 from 20-1) and Space Tourist (1-2 from 5-4) held up their end of the bargain, but So Scottish (5-6 from 5-1) and Twoplustwo Equals were both beaten to deny some shrewd punters an almighty payday.

The last word:

No fireworks this time but Inspiral is no damp squib in Jacques le Marois

'He never panics' - George Baker analyses a Buick masterclass in the Hungerford

Worthy winners and small fields - Jonathan Harding reviews the weekend action

Catch our in-depth review of the weekend's racing every Monday in the Racing Post. With big-race analysis from Classic-winning jockey George Baker, Chris Cook's take on the weekend action, eyecatchers from the Raceform team, weekly awards and much more, it is not to be missed.