Pont l’Eveque was a very late foal, born at the end of the breeding season on 25 May, making him probably the youngest horse to win the Derby.
At the end of 1939, Mrs Morriss decided to reduce the number of horses she had in training and Pont l’Eveque was one of those considered surplus to requirements.
[1] Pont l’Eveque’s three-year-old debut provided evidence of his progress as he was a very easy winner of a twenty-two runner maiden race over a mile at Newbury on 13 April.
[7] Pont l’Eveque was then moved up in class for the Newmarket Stakes over ten furlongs on 22 May, and although he was well beaten by Lighthouse II,[3] he did enough in finishing second to establish himself as a Derby contender.
At the end of May, in the week of the Dunkirk Evacuation, Pont l’Eveque warmed up for the Derby when he “breezed home” in the Longleat Stakes at Salisbury.
[10] The French colt Djebel had been able to cross the channel to win the 2000 Guineas but such journeys were no longer possible[11] and Lighthouse II was sent off favourite, with Pont l’Eveque starting at 10/1 in a field of sixteen.
He stayed on strongly up the July Course’s ten-furlong straight and after being briefly challenged by Lighthouse, drew clear to win in "most impressive style" by three lengths from Turkhan.
In their book A Century of Champions, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Pont l'Eveque an “inferior” Derby winner.