The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 2,100 metres each year in early June.
The Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère, formerly the Grand Critérium, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,400 metres, and it is scheduled to take place each year in early October.
The Prix de la Forêt is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,400 metres, and it is scheduled to take place each year in early October.
A steeplechase is a distance horse race in which competitors are required to jump diverse fence and ditch obstacles. Steeplechasing is primarily conducted in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Australia, and France. The name is derived from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside.
The Prix du Conseil de Paris is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres, and it is scheduled to take place each year in October.
The Fellow (1985–2008) was an AQPS top-class National Hunt racehorse in the early 1990s. He won the 1994 Cheltenham Gold Cup and narrowly lost the 1991 and 1992 renewals. He also won the 1991 and 1992 King George VI Chase and the 1991 Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris. Along with Mandarin, he is one of only two horses to win both the latter race and the Gold Cup. A full brother to French Horse of the Century Al Capone II, The Fellow was trained in France by François Doumen, ridden by the Polish jockey Adam Kondrat, and owned by the Marquise Soledad de Moratalla.
AQPS, translated as "Other than Thoroughbred", is a general term used in France to refer to horses not listed as Thoroughbreds but destined to race. Anglo-Arabians, Selle Français, and French Trotters plus all other crossbreds can be qualified, in theory, as AQPS. However in practical terms an AQPS is akin to a Thoroughbred but not eligible to that breed's stud-book. The designation usually means one parent is not listed in the Thoroughbred stud book and almost always applies to those horses with Selle Français breeding in the dam line, be it very remote through repeated crosses with TB stallions. Reverse crosses are also performed by crossing a Thoroughbred mare with an AQPS-approved stallion, and this has met with success on the race-track.
Al Capone II was a French Autre Que Pur-Sang (AQPS), translated as Other than Thoroughbred) steeplechaser. Sired by the Selle Français jumper Italic, and out of the Thoroughbred mare L'Oranaise, he is a full brother to The Fellow who won the 1991 Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris, the 1991 & 1992 King George VI Chase, and the 1994 Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The Prix La Haye Jousselin is a Group 1 steeplechase in France which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Auteuil over a distance of 5,500 metres, and it is scheduled to take place each year in November.
The Auteuil Hippodrome is a horse racing venue on Route des Lacs in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris, France. The 33-hectare (82-acre) race course opened November 1, 1873. It is designed exclusively for steeplechase racing.
France Galop is the governing body of flat and steeplechase horse racing in France. It was founded on May 3, 1995, as the result of the amalgamation of four different industry organizations. Prominent owner/breeder Jean-Luc Lagardère was elected the organization's first president.
The Prix Ferdinand Dufaure is a Group 1 steeplechase in France which is open to four-year-old horses. It is run at Auteuil over a distance of 4,100 metres, and it is scheduled to take place each year in late May.
Troytown (1913–1920) was a racehorse regarded as one of the greatest early 20th century National Hunt performers along with Jerry M. His career was cut short by a fatal fall in the 1920 Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris. The habit of bludgeoning his way through fences, which caused the accident, had long been with Troytown. When he won the 1920 Grand National, he almost carted his amateur jockey Jack Anthony round the track and survived two mistakes. Before that, he had won once in his native Ireland, taken the Champion Chase at Aintree in 1919 and made every yard to win the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris that season. Troytown was ridden by Anthony Escott when he won the Grand Steeple Chase de Paris in 1919. Escott had ridden third in the English Grand National in that same year on a horse called Pollen. The winner was Ernie Piggot on Poethlyn. Both of these horses were trained by Harry Escott at his stables in Lewes. He was Anthony Escott's father.
The Grande Course de Haies d'Auteuil, sometimes referred to as the French Champion Hurdle, is a Group 1 hurdle race in France which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Auteuil over a distance of 5,100 metres, and it is scheduled to take place each year in June.
The Grand Prix d'Automne is a Group 1 hurdle race in France which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Auteuil over a distance of 4,800 metres, and it is scheduled to take place each year in late October or early November.
Algan was a French Selle Français racehorse who competed under National Hunt rules. As a six-year-old in the autumn of 1994 he won the Grand Prix d'Automne, one of the most important hurdle races in France and was then sent to England where he recorded an upset victory over a strong field in the King George VI Chase. He continued to race for several years without replicating his early success. After his retirement from professional racing he competed in Point-to-point races.
Fortina (1941–1968) was a French-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1947 Cheltenham Gold Cup. He was and remains the only entire horse to win the race. After establishing himself as a top-class steeplechaser in France he was sent to England and won the Gold Cup on his second British start. He was then retired to become a breeding stallion and became a very successful sire of National Hunt horses.
The Prix Maurice Gillois is a Group 1 steeplechase in France which is open to four-year-old horses. It is run at Auteuil over a distance of 4,400 metres, and it is scheduled to take place each year in November. It is the championship race for four-year-old steeplechasers in France, and is also known as the Grand Steeple-Chase des Quatre Ans.
The Prix Renaud du Vivier is a Group 1 hurdle race in France which is open to four-year-old horses. It is run at Auteuil over a distance of 3,900 metres, and it is scheduled to take place each year in November. It is the winter championship event for four-year-old hurdlers and is also known as Grande Course de Haies des 4 Ans. The race was first run in 1986 and is named in honour of Renaud du Vivier de Fay-Solignac (1896-1985) who was President of the Société des Steeple-Chases de France from 1968 to 1977.
Felix de Giles is a Grade 1 winning British jockey who has been based in France since 2015 and competes in races over jumps. In 2023 he was crowned champion French jump jockey.
