Mont Ormel stuns rivals to claim Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris

Mont Ormel floored some big names to run out a surprise winner of the Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris at Saint-Cloud.

Pia Brandt’s unheralded colt stepped up markedly on the form he had shown to date to take Group One honours at the main expense of the Ed Dunlop-trained Red Verdon.

Ryan Moore had set out to make all on Aidan O'Brien's Beacon Rock, looking intent to make it a test, but was swallowed up around the two-furlong pole.

Favourite Mekhtaal had kept close tabs on the leader but the writing was on the wall soon after the runners turned for home.

Red Verdon, sixth in the Investec Derby and fourth in the Irish equivalent, was held up through the early stages and looked like he would swamp everything when coming with his run under Vincent Cheminaud.

But in the end he could not quite get to the Cristian Demuro-ridden winner, while Andre Fabre’s Cloth Of Stars was third.

His chance

Elsewhere, Awtaad appears likely to take his chance in the Qatar Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood on July 27th.

The Kevin Prendergast-trained colt beat Qipco 2000 Guineas winner Galileo Gold to land the Tattersalls-sponsored Irish equivalent, but had to settle for third behind Hugo Palmer’s runner in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The Prix Jacques le Marois was also an option, but Prendergast said: “Hopefully he will run in the Sussex, there’s not a definite decision made yet but we are hoping he will run in the Sussex. He’ll be competitive, whatever beats him this time will win.”

Aidan O’Brien’s French Guineas victor The Gurkha split the pair at the Royal meeting before being a beaten favourite in the Coral-Eclipse and is likely to again form a clash of the Classic winners.

Time For Mabel continued his improvement with victory in the Killarney Grand Live Music Venue Handicap Hurdle.

With a total prize fund of €25,000 up for grabs, the two-mile-one-furlong contest was the most valuable event on the fourth and final day of the County Kerry track’s summer festival and a strong field of 10 runners went to post.

The Edward O’Grady- trained Time For Mabel was a 6-1 shot to defy a steep rise in the weights for winning a conditions event at Limerick and did so in good style, beating Cliff House by a length and a quarter in the hands of Andrew Lynch.

“I thought they would have gone quicker and while he was not doing too much, he quickened up well,” said Lynch.