The Grande Course de Haies d'Auteuil, sometimes referred to as the French Champion Hurdle, is a Group 1 hurdle race in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

which is open to

horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

aged five years or older. It is run at

Auteuil Auteuil may refer to: Places * Auteuil, Oise, a commune in France * Auteuil, Paris, a neighborhood of Paris ** Auteuil, Seine, the former commune which was on the outskirts of Paris * Auteuil, Quebec, a former city that is now a district within ...

over a distance of 5,100 metres (about 3 miles and 1½ furlongs), and it is scheduled to take place each year in June.

History

The race was first run on May 25, 1874, the same day as the inaugural running of the Grand National de France (now the

Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris The Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris 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 6,000 metres, and during its running there are twe ...

). It was originally open to horses aged four or older, and it was initially contested over 4,000 metres. This was increased to 4,800 metres in its second year, and to 5,000 metres in 1880. The race was given a new date in 1882 – it was moved to the Wednesday after the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris, which continued to be run on the last Sunday in May. The following year saw the launch of a new

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

at Auteuil, the Prix des Drags, and this was scheduled for the Friday of the same week. This week of top class jump races became known as the ''Grande Semaine d'Auteuil''. The Grande Course de Haies was run as a handicap until 1889, but since then it has held

weight for age {{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Weight for Age (WFA) is a term in thoroughbred horse racing which is one of the conditions for a race. History The principle of WFA was developed by Admiral Rous, a handicapper with the English Jockey Club. Rous ...

conditions. The race was abandoned throughout

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, with no running from 1915 to 1918. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it was cancelled only once, in 1940. The minimum age was raised to five in 1961, when a new hurdle race, the Grande Course de Haies des 4 Ans (later titled the Prix Alain du Breil), was introduced specifically for four-year-olds. The distance of the Grande Course de Haies was extended to 5,100 metres in 1969. This was cut to 4,100 metres in 1975, and then restored to 5,100 metres in 1979. Four horses have won both this event and the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris. These are Blagueur II, Loreto, Ubu III and Mid Dancer. The 1947 winner of the Grande Course de Haies, Le Paillon, later won the most prestigious

flat race National Hunt flat races, informally known as bumper races, are a type of flat racing but run under National Hunt racing rules in Britain and Ireland. National Hunt flat races were created on 15 July 1891 when a conference between the stewards of ...

in France, the

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, France, over a distance ...

. The 1984 winner,

Dawn Run Dawn Run (1978–1986) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse (Deep Run - Twilight Slave) who was the most successful racemare in the history of National Hunt racing. She won the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 1984 and the Chelten ...

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

trained in Ireland), also won both the

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...

and the

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs ( ...

in England. She returned to Auteuil to attempt a repeat victory in 1986, but during the race she misjudged a hurdle, fell, and died almost instantly. In 2010, the race was won by flat jockey

Christophe Soumillon Christophe Soumillon (born 4 June 1981) is a Belgian jockey based in France. Career Coming from a racing background, Soumillon is the son of jump jockey Jean-Marc Soumillon. He rode in pony races and left Belgium aged fifteen to go to the racing ...

Records

Leading

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

(4 wins): * John Boon – ''Vertige (1894), Charlatan (1895), Grandlieu (1898), Kerym (1899)'' ---- Leading trainer (8 wins): * William Head – ''Evohe II (1937, 1938), Royal Kidney (1939), Ludovic le More (1943), Vatelys (1946), Le Paillon (1947), Septieme Ciel (1948), Friendship (1959)'' ---- Leading owner (6 wins): *

Daniel Wildenstein Daniel Leopold Wildenstein (11 September 1917 – 23 October 2001) was a French art dealer, historian and owner-breeder of thoroughbred race horses. He was the third member of the family to preside over Wildenstein & Co., one of the most succes ...

– ''Gopal (1969), Top Gear (1977), Paiute (1979, 1980), World Citizen (1982), Vaporetto (1999)''

Winners since 1970

Earlier winners

* 1874 - Jackal * 1875 - Borely * 1876 - Vichnou * 1877 - Miss Lizzie * 1878 - Patriarche * 1879 - Paul's Cray * 1880 - Doublon * 1881 -

Seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

* 1882 - Marc Antony * 1883 - Beatus * 1884 - Baudres * 1885 - Newmarket * 1886 - Jannock * 1887 - Kersage * 1888 - Aladdin * 1889 - Vanille * 1890 - Saint Claude * 1891 - Augure * 1892 - Le Gourzy * 1893 - Ranville * 1894 - Vertige * 1895 - Charlatan * 1896 - Count Schomberg * 1897 - Soliman * 1898 - Grandlieu * 1899 - Kerym * 1900 - General Peace * 1901 - Monsieur Piperlin * 1902 -

Bebe Bebe, Bèbè, Bebé, Bébé or BeBe may refer to: People and fictional characters * Bebe (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Bebé, footballer Tiago Manuel Dias Correia (born 1990) * Bebé (f ...

* * 1903 - Nivolet * 1904 - Hipparque * 1905 - Karakoul * 1906 - Fragilite * 1907 - Chi Lo Sa * 1908 - Ingenu * 1909 - Herisson II * 1910 - Blagueur II * 1911 - Carpe Diem * 1912 - Balscadden * 1913 - Galafron * 1914 - Lilium * 1915–18 - ''no race'' * 1919 - Saint Tudwal * 1920 - Chaud * 1921 - Forearm * 1922 - Fauche le Pre * 1923 -

Onyx II Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The c ...

* 1924 - Arrowhead * 1925 -

Rocking Chair A rocking chair or rocker is a type of chair with two curved bands (also known as rockers) attached to the bottom of the legs, connecting the legs on each side to each other. The rockers contact the floor at only two points, giving the occupant ...

* 1926 - Histoire de Rire * 1927 - Lannilis * 1928 - Don Zuniga * 1929 - Largo * 1930 - Le Bouif * 1931 - Baoule * 1932 - Pour le Roi * 1933 - Lands End * 1934 - Lord Byron * 1935 - Robin des Bois * 1936 - Cerealiste * 1937 - Evohe II * 1938 - Evohe II * * 1939 - Royal Kidney * 1940 - ''no race'' * 1941 - Short * 1942 - Lycoming * 1943 - Ludovic le More * 1944 -

Wild Risk Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 Am ...

* 1945 -

* 1946 - Vatelys * 1947 - Le Paillon * 1948 - Septieme Ciel * 1949 - Nigra * 1950 - Amati * 1951 - Verdi * 1952 - Prince Hindou * 1953 - Frascati * 1954 - Sicie * 1955 - Elegant * 1956 - Mehariste * 1957 - Romantisme * 1958 - Loreto * 1959 -

Friendship Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept o ...

* 1960 - Poutje Elday * 1961 - Choute * 1962 - Miror * 1963 - Ouf * 1964 - Santo Pietro * 1965 - Ketch * 1966 - Pansa * 1967 - Rivoli * 1968 - Orvilliers * 1969 - Gopal * Mr Quilp finished first in 1902 but was disqualified.
*

Porthos Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), ''Twenty Years After'' (1845), and ''The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other ...

finished first in 1938 but was relegated to third place following a Stewards' Inquiry.

References

France-Galop 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 t ...

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 6 ...

: ** , , , , , , , ,, ** , , , , , , , , , ** , , , , , , , , , ** , , , , , , , , , ** , , ---- * galop.courses-france.com: *
1874–18891890–19191920–19491950–19791980–present
----

– ''A Brief History: Grande Course de Haies d'Auteuil.''
pedigreequery.com
– ''Grande Course de Haies d'Auteuil – Auteuil.''
galopp-sieger.de
- ''Grand Course de Haies d'Auteuil'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Grande Course Haies Auteuil Horse races in France Recurring events established in 1874 National Hunt hurdle races

History

Records

Winners since 1970

Earlier winners

See also

References