The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a
Group 1 Group 1 may refer to:
* Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Alkali metal
* Group 1 (racing), a historic (until 1981) classification for Touring car racing, applied to standard touring cars. Comparable to modern FIA Group N
* Group On ...
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), ...
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 ...
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 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 ...
over a distance of 2,100 metres (about 1 mile and 2½
furlong
A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hor ...
s) each year in early June.
History
The format of the race was inspired by the English Derby, and it was named in homage to the Jockey Club based at Newmarket in England. It was established in 1836, and it was originally restricted to horses born and bred in France. Its distance was initially 2,500 metres, and this was cut to 2,400 metres in 1843. It was switched to
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...
during the
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
of 1848, and it was cancelled due to the Franco-Prussian War in 1871.
The race was abandoned in 1915, and for three years thereafter it was replaced by the Prix des Trois Ans. This took place at Moulins in 1916, Chantilly in 1917 and
Maisons-Laffitte
Maisons-Laffitte () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the northern Île-de-France region of France. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of northwestern Paris, from its centre. In 2018, it had a population of 23,611.
Maisons-Laf ...
in 1918. The first two runnings after World War I were held at Longchamp.
A substitute race called the Prix de Chantilly was run at Auteuil over 2,600 metres in 1940. The Prix du Jockey Club was staged at Longchamp in 1941 and 1942, and at Le Tremblay over 2,300 metres in 1943 and 1944. It returned to Longchamp for the following three years, and on the second occasion it was opened to foreign participants.
The present system of race grading was introduced in 1971, and the Prix du Jockey Club was classed at the highest level, Group 1. The first foreign-trained horse to win was
Assert
Assertion or assert may refer to:
Computing
* Assertion (software development), a computer programming technique
* assert.h, a header file in the standard library of the C programming language
* Assertion definition language, a specification lang ...
in 1982. The distance was shortened to 2,100 metres in 2005.
Nine winners of the Prix du Jockey Club have subsequently won 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 first was
Ksar
Ksar or qsar (Maghrebi Arabic: wiktionary:قصر, قصر ''qṣer'' or ڭصر ''gser'', plural ''qṣur''; Berber language, Berber: ⵉⴴⵔⵎ ''aghrem'' or ''ighrem'', plural: ''igherman''), plural ksars, qsars, ksour or qsour, is the Nor ...
in 1921, and the most recent was
Dalakhani
Dalakhani (16 February 2000 – 15 January 2021) was an Irish thoroughbred race horse owned and bred by Aga Khan IV and trained by Alain de Royer-Dupré. He was sired by Darshaan covering Daltawa (Miswaki) and was therefore half-brother to Dayla ...
Yves Saint-Martin
Yves Saint-Martin (born 8 September 1941 in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne, France) is a retired champion jockey in French Thoroughbred horse racing. He is widely considered one of the greatest riders in French racing history.
Saint-Martin won his fir ...
– ''Reliance (1965), Nelcius (1966), Tapalque (1968), Sassafras (1970), Acamas (1978), Top Ville (1979), Darshaan (1984), Mouktar (1985), Natroun (1987)''
Leading trainer (10 wins):
* Tom Jennings, Sr. – ''Porthos (1852), Monarque (1855), Ventre Saint Gris (1858), Black Prince (1859), Gabrielle d'Estrees (1861), Consul (1869), Insulaire (1878), Zut (1879), Albion (1881), Dandin (1882)''
Leading owner (12 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, ...
Omnium II
Omnium II (1892-1901) was a Thoroughbred racehorse in France. He was purchased from the Countess Paul Le Marois at the Deauville Yearling sale by Count Evremond de Saint-Alary. He won a number of important French races and was a great long-di ...
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...
Maintenon
Maintenon () is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located southwest of the center of Paris.
Maintenon, together with the neighbouring commune of Pierres, form an urban area of 7,075 inhabitants (2017).Teddy
* 1917: Brumelli
* 1918: Montmartin
* 1919: Tchad
* 1920: Sourbier
* 1921:
Ksar
Ksar or qsar (Maghrebi Arabic: wiktionary:قصر, قصر ''qṣer'' or ڭصر ''gser'', plural ''qṣur''; Berber language, Berber: ⵉⴴⵔⵎ ''aghrem'' or ''ighrem'', plural: ''igherman''), plural ksars, qsars, ksour or qsour, is the Nor ...
* 1922: Ramus
* 1923: Le Capucin
* 1924: Pot au Feu
* 1925: Belfonds
* 1926: Madrigal
* 1927: Mon Talisman
* 1928: Le Correge
* 1929: Hotweed
* 1930: Chateau Bouscaut
* 1931:
Tourbillon
In horology, a tourbillon (; "whirlwind") is an addition to the mechanics of a watch escapement to increase accuracy. It was developed around 1795 and patented by the Swiss-French watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet on June 26, 1801. In a tourbill ...
Clairvoyant
Clairvoyance (; ) is the magical ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ("one who sees cl ...
Le Pacha
Le Pacha (foaled in 1938) was a Champion French Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by Andre Schwob, his dam was Advertencia, a daughter of two-time Arc winner, Ksar. He was sired by Biribi who won the 1926 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and who was a son ...
* 1942: Magister
* 1943: Verso II
* 1944: Ardan
* 1945: Coaraze
* 1946: Prince Chevalier
* 1947: Sandjar
* 1948: Bey
* 1949: Good Luck
1 The 1843 and 1856 races finished as dead-heats, but each was decided by a run-off. 2 The 1882, 1886 and 1908 races were dead-heats and have joint winners.
See also
*
List of French flat horse races
A list of notable flat horse races which take place annually in France, under the authority of France Galop, including all conditions races which currently hold Group 1 Group 1 may refer to:
* Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Al ...