The Poule d'Essai des Pouliches is a Group 1

flat Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

horse race in France open to three-year-old

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

fillies A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

. It is run over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile) at Longchamp in May. It is France's equivalent of the 1000 Guineas run in Britain.

History

Origins

The Poule d'Essai, an event for three-year-old colts and fillies, was established in France in 1840. It was inspired by two races in England, the 2000 Guineas (for colts and fillies) and the 1,000 Guineas (for fillies only). The race was initially staged at the

Champ de Mars The Champ de Mars (; en, Field of Mars) is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh ''arrondissement'', between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after t ...

. Its first running was over one full circuit of the track (about 2,000 metres). It was cut to a three-quarter lap (1,500 metres) in 1841. It was cancelled due to insufficient entries in 1843 and 1844. The Poule d'Essai was transferred to Longchamp in 1857. It was extended to 1,600 metres in 1867. It was abandoned because of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. It continued to be run until 1882.

Modern version

The modern Poule d'Essai des Pouliches was created in 1883, when the Poule d'Essai was divided into two separate races. The "Pouliches" was restricted to fillies, and the

Poule d'Essai des Poulains Molof (Ampas, Poule, Powle-Ma) is a poorly documented Papuan language spoken by about 200 people in Molof village, Senggi District, Keerom Regency. Classification Wurm (1975) placed it as an independent branch of Trans–New Guinea, but Ros ...

was reserved for colts. The events were cancelled throughout World War I, with no runnings from 1915 to 1918. There were two 1,800-metre replacement races at

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city located in the Oise department **US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly, a historic château located in the town of Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missou ...

in 1917. The version for fillies was called the Critérium d'Essai des Pouliches. The "Pouliches" and "Poulains" were not run in the spring of 1940, but a substitute combining both races took place 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 ...

in October. Titled the Prix d'Essai, it was won by the colt

Djebel : ''For mountains or other uses, see: Jabal.'' Djebel (1937–1958) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse, who won 15 of 22 races during 1939–1942 including the Prix d'Essai, 2000 Guineas and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. He was later a leading s ...

. The Poule d'Essai des Pouliches was held at

Le Tremblay Le Tremblay () is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. On 15 December 2016, it was merged into the new commune Ombrée d'Anjou.Maisons-Laffitte Maisons-Laffitte () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the northern Île-de-France Regions of France, region of France. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of northwestern Paris, from its ...

in 1944 and 1945. The present race grading system was introduced in 1971, and the event was given Group 1 status. It was switched from Longchamp's middle course (moyenne piste) to the main course (grande piste) in 1987. The leading horses from the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches sometimes go on to compete in the

Prix de Diane The Prix de Diane, sometimes referred to as the French Oaks, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 2,100 met ...

. Twenty-six fillies have won both races. The most recent was Avenir Certain in 2014.

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 ...

(8 wins): *

Freddy Head Freddy Head (born 19 June 1947, in Neuilly, France) is a retired champion jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing and currently a horse trainer. Known also as "Freddie", his grandfather was a jockey as was his father Alec Head who also became a succes ...

– ''Ivanjica (1975), Riverqueen (1976), Dancing Maid (1978), Three Troikas (1979), Silvermine (1985), Miesque (1987), Matiara (1995), Always Loyal (1997)'' Leading trainer (7 wins): *

Charles Semblat Charles Henri Semblat, (1897–1972) was a French jockey and racehorse trainer. Semblat was leading French jockey for more than twenty years before his riding career was ended by injury. He subsequently had an even more successful career as trai ...

– ''Esmeralda (1942), Caravelle (1943), Palencia (1944), Corteira (1948), Coronation / Galgala (1949), Corejada (1950), Djelfa (1951)'' *

Criquette Head-Maarek Christiane "Criquette" Head (born 6 November 1948 at Marly-le-Roi, near Maisons-Laffitte, France) is a retired French racehorse trainer. Known as Criquette, she was born into the Thoroughbred horse racing business. Her great grandfather was a ...

– ''Three Troikas (1979), Silvermine (1985), Baiser Vole (1986), Ravinella (1988), Matiara (1995), Always Loyal (1997), Special Duty (2010)'' Leading owner (8 wins): *

Marcel Boussac Marcel Boussac (17 April 1889 – 21 March 1980) was a French entrepreneur best known for his ownership of the Maison Dior and one of the most successful thoroughbred race horse breeding farms in European history. Born in Châteauroux, Indre, ...

– ''Esmeralda (1942), Caravelle (1943), Palencia (1944), Corteira (1948), Coronation / Galgala (1949), Corejada (1950), Djelfa (1951), Apollonia (1956)''

Winners since 1970

Price Tag finished first in 2006, but she was relegated to third place following a stewards' inquiry.
Liliside was first in 2010, but she was placed sixth after a stewards' inquiry.
The 2016 and 2017 races took place at

Deauville Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film Fes ...

while Longchamp was closed for redevelopment.
The 2020 running took place at

on 1 June as Longchamp was closed owing to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic.

Earlier winners

* 1883: Stockholm * 1884: Yvrande * 1885: Barberine * 1886: Sakountala * 1887: Tenebreuse * 1888: Widgeon * 1889: May Pole * 1890: Wandora * 1891: Primrose * 1892: Kairouan * 1893: Tilly * 1894: Calceolaire * 1895: Andree * 1896: Riposte * 1897: Roxelane * 1898: Polymnie * 1899: Sesara * 1900: Semendria * 1901: La Camargo * 1902: Kizil Kourgan * 1903: Rose de Mai * 1904: Xylene * 1905: Princesse Lointaine * 1906: Sais * 1907: Madree * 1908: Sauge Pourpree * 1909: Ronde de Nuit * 1910: Vellica * 1911: Bolide * 1912: Porte Maillot * 1913: Banshee * 1914: Diavolezza * 1915–18: ''no race'' * 1919: Galejade * 1920: Flowershop * 1921: Nephthys * 1922: Frisky * 1923: Anna Bolena * 1924: Rebia * 1925: La Dame de Trefle * 1926: Mackwiller * 1927: Fairy Legend * 1928: Roahouga * 1929: Poesie * 1930: Rose The * 1931: Pearl Cap * 1932: Ligne de Fond * 1933: Bipearl * 1934: Mary Tudor * 1935: The Nile * 1936: Blue Bear * 1937: Colette Baudoche * 1938: Feerie * 1939: Yonne * 1940: ''no race'' * 1941: Longthanh * 1942: Esmeralda * 1943: Caravelle * 1944: Palencia * 1945: Nikellora * 1946: Real * 1947:

Imprudence Prudence ( la, prudentia, contracted from meaning "seeing ahead, sagacity") is the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. It is classically considered to be a virtue, and in particular one of the four Cardinal virtu ...

* 1948: Corteira * 1949:

Coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...

/ Galgala * * 1950: Corejada * 1951: Djelfa * 1952: Pomare * 1953: Hurnli * 1954: Virgule * 1955: Dictaway * 1956: Apollonia * 1957: Toro * 1958: Yla * 1959: Ginetta * 1960: Timandra * 1961: Solitude * 1962: La Sega * 1963: Altissima * 1964: Rajput Princess * 1965: La Sarre * 1966: Right Away * 1967: Gazala * 1968: Pola Bella * 1969: Koblenza * The 1949 race was a dead-heat and has joint winners.

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 ...

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: *
1883–18891890–19191920–19491950–19791980–present
----

– ''A Brief History: Poule d'Essai des Pouliches.''
galopp-sieger.de
– ''Poule d'Essai des Pouliches.''
horseracingintfed.com
– ''International Federation of Horseracing Authorities – Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (2017).''
pedigreequery.com
– ''Poule d'Essai des Pouliches – Longchamp.''

– ''Poule d'Essai des Pouliches.'' {{Race Meeting, Poules d'Essai Meeting, Turf Flat horse races for three-year-old fillies Longchamp Racecourse Horse races in France 1883 establishments in France Recurring sporting events established in 1883