The colt was then moved up sharply in class for France's most prestigious race for two-year-olds, the Grand Critérium over 1600 metres at Longchamp on 13 October and started the 9/2 fourth choice in the betting.
[3] On 8 June, Val de l'Orne started 4/5 favourite for the Grand Prix du Jockey Club over 2400 metres at Chantilly Racecourse.
His eleven opponents included Mariacci, Top Gear, Easy Regent from France as well as Patch, an ex-Italian colt who had been transferred to England and won the Lingfield Derby Trial by ten lengths.
[3] There was no International Classification of European two-year-olds in 1974: the official handicappers of Britain, Ireland and France compiled separate rankings for horses which competed in those countries.
In their annual Racehorses of 1975 the organisation commented that Val de l'Orne's early retirement, and the fact that he had never been tested against older horses made him difficult to assess.
[3] Val de l'Orne was retired to the Head family's Haras d'Etreham near Bayeux in Normandy[3] and was later transferred to stand at the Windfields Farm in North America.
He was a successful breeding stallion whose best winners included Pay The Butler (Japan Cup), Golden Choice (Queen's Plate), La Lorgnette (Queen's Plate), Val Dansant (Prince of Wales Stakes), Victory Zone (Hollywood Derby), Valuable Witness (Goodwood Cup), River God (Queen's Vase), Alice Springs (All Along Stakes), Baron de Vaux (Woodlawn Stakes), Ruscelli (Prix de La Jonchere) and Truculent (Prix La Force).