Red Verdon, who finished sixth behind Harzand in the Derby at Epsom in June, came up a length short of his first Group One victory after coming from last place on the home turn in the Grand Prix de Paris here on Thursday evening. He passed six of his seven rivals, but could not reach Mont Ormel, the outsider of the field, who gave trainer Pia Brandt her first Group One success at odds of nearly 18-1.
Red Verdon’s run augurs well for his next major target, the St Leger at Doncaster in early September, over an extended mile and six furlongs. For much of Thursday’s race, as was the case in the Irish Derby at The Curragh last month, he was towards the rear of the field, but he was able to come with a long, determined run under Vincent Cheminaud that seemed likely to carry him to victory with a furlong to run.
It is 16 years since a British-trained horse took the Grand Prix de Paris, however, and one of the most prestigious races of the French season and a race that has taken on extra significance since the decision to reduce the distance of the French Derby from 12 furlongs to 10.
The Grand Prix is now the most important race for three-year-old colts over the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe trip of a mile-and-a-half, and while it shifted to Saint-Cloud this year from its traditional home at Longchamp while the track is rebuilt, there were several colts in the field with the pedigree and profile to develop into Arc contenders.
None could cope with Brandt’s runner, however, and after hitting the front about a furlong out under Cristian Demuro, Mont Ormel stayed on well as Red Verdon’s run flattened out to win by a length and a quarter, with Cloth Of Stars, who finished eighth in the Derby at Epsom, another neck away in third. Beacon Rock, Aidan O’Brien’s only runner in the race, dropped away in the straight to finish last after setting a steady early pace.
Brandt seemed as surprised as anyone afterwards that Mont Ormel had secured her first win at the highest level.
“I was not expecting him to be ready to win a Group One, but we knew the horse had potential,” Brandt said. “He had been very childish until his last race, when he showed that he is becoming a real racehorse.
“Today was very serious and he did exactly what his jockey asked him to do. We knew he was good, but we just weren’t sure he was ready. We will see [about his future races], we did not expect to win a Group One so now we will have to talk about what we are going to do.”
Ed Dunlop, Red Verdon’s trainer, said afterwards that he was “as delighted as you can be for finishing second” with the colt’s performance. This was the third race in a row for which Ronnie Arculli, his owner, had paid a supplementary entry fee, and the first in which he had recouped the investment.
“We were planning to sit in the middle but we ended up last and he took off from a long way back,” Dunlop said. “In fairness, it looked like it was still going to be enough to win, and then he just flattened out a little. He’s improving very fast this horse, getting better with each race. He hasn’t won a Group One yet, but the way he’s going, he will win a Group One. We will put him away now and train him for the St Leger.
“We will probably go for the Voltigeur [at York in August]. We’ve finally outdone the supplementary fee and he’s beginning to prove that he deserves to be in this company. He made up a lot of ground and we’d have liked to win, but he’s getting closer.”
Red Verdon is top-priced at 12-1 for the St Leger with Ladbrokes.
