FRENCH Derby hero The Grey Gatsby was well beaten in sixth as Andre Fabre's Gallante produced a shock in the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp.
Having to race on a rain-drenched surface and at a mile and a half for the first time, the Kevin Ryan-trained colt never looked entirely happy from quite an early stage and was the first of the market principals to be beaten.
To his credit, Ryan Moore's mount plugged on down the straight, finishing one place behind John Gosden's Marzocco, who had soon taken the Group One field along in the hands of William Buick.
Favourite Prince Gibraltar looked to have all bases covered turning for home but found first Teletext a tough nut to crack before Gallante hit another gear in the Derrick Smith colours to foil Jean-Claude Rouget's hotpot.
North Yorkshire trainer Ryan said: "Ryan told me that from the moment he left the gate he knew he was in trouble. He just absolutely hated the ground. He ran respectably, I can't say he didn't get the trip - the way he ran his race and the way he finished his race I think he will get a mile and a half no problem.
"But I wouldn't want to run him on soft ground again."
Asked about supplementing for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe back at Longchamp in October, Ryan said: "You would have to be brave to supplement for an Arc at that time of the year, but obviously we can wait until quite close to the Arc before making a decision.
"It remains a possibility if we thought the ground was right and he will go for the Juddmonte International at York next."
Gosden was thrilled with the run of Marzocco, and has Doncaster in September in mind.
He said: "I am delighted with him, he ran a nice race and it's just sad for everyone there was so much rain.
"He ran a solid race and I am going to train him for the Leger."
Meanwhile, Aktabantay is likely to have his next run in the Solario Stakes at Sandown on August 30. Hugo Palmer's juvenile finished second behind the impressive winner Estidkhaar in the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday.
There are plenty of options this season, including the Breeders' Cup, but Palmer is already thinking of next season's Greenham Stakes.
The Newmarket-based trainer said: "We've got to enter him in the Dewhurst and Champagne Stakes, races like that.
"There's a race in France, the Prix de Cabourg (August 3), which is not impossible, but the most obvious answer is the Solario.
"The Breeders' Cup is not impossible, we've already had them on, but the race I'm working backwards from is the Greenham."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article