Ocean Atlantique disputing favouritism for Jockey Club after Listed romp

The Andre Fabre-trained Ocean Atlantique boosted both his own reputation and that of his Longchamp conqueror, Pao Alto, with a dominant display in landing the Listed Prix de Suresnes.

Coolmore's son of American Pharoah is a best-priced 7-1 for the Prix du Jockey Club on July 5 and is now vying for market leadership with stablemate Victor Ludorum and Pao Alto, who beat Ocean Atlantique on his reappearance at Longchamp in the Prix La Force.

"He's a colt with a good mind on him who is calm and takes his work well," said winning jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot.

"There was always a chance it could get tactical today but he jumped well, so I let him stride on. He accelerated well in the straight and stayed all the way to the line. He's improving with racing."

While last year the Prix de Suresnes was staged at Chantilly on very soft ground, it did produce the Jockey Club winner in Sottsass.

Paris times two in feature Group races

Way To Paris belied both his advancing years and previous poor experiences of Deauville to run away with the Group 2 Grand Prix de Chantilly for trainer Andrea Marcialis.

Boudot was again the man on board but was far more patient than with Ocean Atlantique, sitting at the rear of a six-runner field towed along at a decent clip by French King.

The seven-year-old picked up in great style to score by four and a half lengths, building on his excellent comeback run behind Shaman on very different ground in the Prix d'Harcourt.

"He was very calm beforehand but I was worried because he has run badly here twice previously," said Marcialis. "He always used to be a horse for heavy ground but he has changed plenty and, having run badly on deep going a couple of times, now it seems he likes it fast."

Tour To Paris is also in the process of reinventing himself and scored a first success over five furlongs since his early days in Hungary when running away with the Group 2 Prix du Gros-Chene, completing a treble on the card for owner Alain Jathiere.

"Christophe Soumillon really knows the horse now and he has learned how to manage him," said trainer Pia Brandt. "Last time he was trying 1,000 metres for the first time [since joining me] and it's a different sport. He won everything in Hungary very easily and it has been all about him learning since I got him."

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