CHARLES Byrnes will break new ground tomorrow when Run For Oscar becomes his first flat runner in France, having spied a potentially lucrative opening in the Group 2 Prix Kergorlay (4.00) at Deauville.

Last season’s runaway Cesarewitch Handicap winner will contest the Sumbe-backed €130,000 contest over a mile and seven furlongs on the Prix Morny undercard, with top rider Cristian Demuro - the man who partnered Sottsass to victory in the 2020 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe - booked for the mount. Byrnes finished second in the 2013 French Champion Hurdle (Grande Course de Haies d’Auteuil) with former stable star Solwhit on a previous visit to France.

“We wouldn’t have gone with many others to France before,” Byrnes told The Irish Field.

“Solwhit was actually our only other horse to travel there, and this horse happens to be in the same silks with a slightly different group in the syndicate. He arrived in France on Friday evening and everything seemed to go well with him in that department.”

Ground concern

Run For Oscar, a luckless third in the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot two starts ago, faces eight rivals on his Deauville raid. It could potentially prove a shrewd piece of placing from the Byrnes team, though the trainer is concerned by the prospect of rain-softened ground.

“I’m just hoping it doesn’t turn too soft for him, they are expecting their share of rain,” said Byrnes.

“If the ground is any way reasonable, I hope he can run a nice race. He probably needs two miles and further but I think we’ve got a very good jockey booking.

“We have runners at Tramore so I won’t be travelling myself. The owners have gone and will enjoy themselves.”