French Derby winner Reliable Man returned to winning ways and reversed Grand Prix de Paris form with Meandre in the Prix Niel at Longchamp.

Settled in third by Gerald Mosse, Alain de Royer-Dupre's charge was always in the box seat.

Maxime Guyon moved Meandre up on to his quarters with two furlongs to run but as Reliable Man quickened, Meandre could not quite summon the necessary extra and settled for second.

Reliable Man is now 7-1 from 16s with Paddy Power for the Arc, but Andre Fabre will need to decide whether to supplement Meandre for the big race.

A crumb of comfort for his supporters is that Peintre Celebre finished second in the Niel of 1997 before winning the Arc.

Sven Hanson of the Pride Racing Club, who own the winner, said: "That was another good win. The ground was very hard in the Grand Prix, much harder than they said, and he found this much more suitable, he really showed his speed.

"We were not really sure if 10 or 12 furlongs was his best trip but he didn't seem to mind that. For the French the Arc is the main race to win, although you need a lot of luck."