Favourite-backers take another soaking as Longchamp follows Newmarket in providing Classic shocks

Stormy weather delayed racing in Paris on Sunday and most punters took a soaking, whether they were muttering "Il pleut" to each other by the Longchamp paddock or watching from the comfort of home. 

The first two Classics of the French season were won by outsiders priced at 31-1 and 24-1, continuing the theme established at Newmarket the previous weekend, when the Guineas winners were returned at 16-1 and 28-1.

Another thread of continuity would be well-backed and previously unbeaten runners from mighty Ballydoyle who end up unplaced. This time it was Henry Longfellow, a five-length winner of the National Stakes when last seen and presumably supported by some of the same people who had lost on the head-scratchingly disappointing City Of Troy eight days earlier.