Progressive Bellamy Faces Big Test

Richard Hughes´ mount Bellamy Cay could be the dark horse in tomorrow´s Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp.

The progressive three-year-old represents the sponsors in the colours of Khalid Abdullah and is the least experienced runner among the nine-strong field, having had just three races.

After finishing third on his debut in April, the son of Kris has won two minor events at the course and Hughes will be in the saddle for the first time tomorrow.

'He´s an improving horse and he will need to be,' said the owner´s racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe today.

'He´s stepping up in class but Andre (Fabre) is very pleased with him. It´s a tough race, it´s a Group One, but he goes well at Longchamp.

'He didn´t run at all until April as he was a late-maturing horse and all will be revealed tomorrow.'

This season is the first that the race will be run over a mile and a half in July having previously been staged over 10 furlongs a month earlier.

France celebrates Bastille Day tomorrow and the Group One contest will be part of an evening card on what is a public holiday.

Fabre holds a strong hand as he also runs the strongly-fancied Desideratum, owned by Sheikh Mohammed.

The Darshaan colt staked his claim by beating Orion Star - one of two supplementary entries for tomorrow´s race - by a length in a Group Three over this course and distance three weeks ago.

Sheikh Mohammed´s colours will also be carried by the sole British representative, Plea Bargain.

The John Gosden-trained colt showed his battling qualities with a three-quarter length victory over subsequent Irish Derby fourth Brahminy Kite in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot at York.

'It´s a very good race, but it´s the logical step up for him after his Group Two win in the King Edward,' Gosden said today.

'He has taken on a couple of these horses before when he was second, beaten a neck, at Saint-Cloud.

'We are clear about the task facing him, but it seems the right thing to do.

'It should also be a good occasion with it being Bastille Day and I´ve never been to an evening meeting at Longchamp.'

Gosden revealed that it was unlikely Plea Bargain would take up his entry in the Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster in September.

'Going up from a mile and a half to a mile and three-quarters is a different ball game and I would say at this stage he would be unlikely to run,' concluded the Manton trainer.

Aidan O´Brien´s Scorpion, runner-up to the Fabre-trained Hurricane Run in the Irish Derby, was the other horse to be supplemented.

Connections of Laverock are hoping for a 'big run' from the French Derby sixth, who is trained by Carlos Laffon-Parias.

'He ran a blinder in the French Derby considering he had little room. He possibly could have finished a length closer had he had the luck of the race,' said Joe Mercer, racing manager to owner Maktoum Al Maktoum.

'It´s a very hot race and he´s not run over a mile and a half before, but we are looking for a big run from him.'

Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris, Paddy Power bet: 11-8 Scorpion, 13-8 Desideratum, 6-1 Plea Bargain, 9-1 Laverock, 16-1 Bellamy Cay, 20-1 Annenkov, Musketier, 33-1 Orion Star, 66-1 Airex.

(C) PA Sport