Seventeenth last out in the Prix du Jockey Club, Leffard was first past the post Sunday at Longchamp in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris.
Longest shot among six runners on the American tote board, Leffard returned $31.80 after his narrow victory over heavily favored Trinity College in a 3-year-old restricted race.
Trinity College functioned at least as a de facto pacemaker for victorious stablemate Camille Pissarro in the Prix du Jockey Club last month, but held gamely for fourth in that 1 5/16-mile contest, in which Leffard failed to land a blow with no apparent excuse. A sharp front-running win in the Group 3 Hampton Court stakes over 1 1/4 miles at Royal Ascot made the Aidan O’Brien-trained, Ryan Moore-ridden Trinity College 3-5 favorite in the Grand Prix de Paris.
With the pedigree of a horse likely best suited to racing between one mile and 1 1/4 miles, Trinity College tried 1 1/2 miles for the first time Sunday and, after making the lead with a sharp break, he was displaced by Frankly Good Cen. So, rather than control the tempo, Moore sat second, and when he made his move at the head of the Longchamp homestretch, Trinity College had to work passing Frankly Good Cen.
Leffard, trained by Jean-Claude Rouget and ridden for the first time Sunday by Cristian Demuro, began his career in January this year racing over the all-weather surface at Cagnes-Sur-Mer, not an unusual move from Rouget. He won his debut, won a minor race on grass at Toulouse in March, and then was stepped into more serious competition May 2 finishing a close second in a listed race at Chantilly. While the Prix du Jockey Club marked a step back, it obviously set Leffard up to run the race of his life.
Demuro saved ground throughout, racing third or fourth along the fence, coming off the rail to get onto Trinity College’s back when the favorite launched his homestretch attack. Trinity College took Frankly Good Cen’s measure a quarter-mile out, opened a couple lengths, but Leffard pushed forward and began cutting into the lead at the furlong pole. Trinity College very briefly responded when challenged, but Leffard caught him two strides from the wire and won by a nose.
The top two proved much the best, second-choice New Ground more than five lengths back in third, unable to duplicate his good fourth-place finish in the Derby after refusing to settle for jockey Colin Keane for at least the race’s first mile.
Rouget scored his third Grand Prix de Paris win but first since 2010. Leffard, very much bred for 1 1/2 miles, is by Le Havre out of Let’s Misbehave, out of Montjeu. The colt, without further improvement, won’t factor in major 12-furlong contests later this summer and fall, but he was just good enough for Group 1 glory Sunday at Longchamp.
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