Changes at Longchamp in 2018

[stevecaution]

Longchamp racecourse will now be known as ParisLongchamp, which seems awkward and silly to me.

Some races are obviously “Coming Home” this year and the first meeting will be on the 8th of April, when we will see these contests:-

G2 Prix d’Harcourt, a Ganay prep
G3 Prix La Force, a French Derby trial over nine furlongs
G3 Prix Vanteaux, a Prix de Diane trial over nine furlongs

The following Sunday sees these group races as the Flat season starts to get going for real:-

G3 Prix de Fontainebleau, a French 2000 Guineas trial
G3 Prix de la Grotte, a French 1000 Guineas trial
G3 Prix Noailles, potential French Derby trial over 10 1/2F

Some changes have been made to the layout of the course in the hope of making the track fairer for all.

The French 1000 and 2000 Guineas will now be run on the Moyenne Piste (Middle Course) as opposed to the main course. This is to offset the effect of the draw in bigger fields, as the new start will not be as close to the first bend as it is on the main course. The trials for the French Guineas will also use the middle course.

A new open stretch will be set after the final bend, this is designed to open the field and mean that fewer horses get boxed in on the rail. A “False Rail” will be positioned ten metres from the rail and a cutaway will begin roughly 150 metres after the turn.

Cracksman is due to start off in the Prix Ganay on 29th April and prize money for that is being raised from 300,000 euros to 600,000 euros for this season. The Prix Vermille is also going from 250,000 euros to 600,000 euros for this season.

In other news the Prix Jean Prat is moving from Chantilly to Deauville this year in the hope that running the race on a straight mile will see better entries.

Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.

[nwalton]

very good read, thanks steve

[Nathan Hughes]

Cracksman is due to start off in the Prix Ganay on 29th April and prize money for that is being raised from 300,000 euros to 600,000 euros for this season. The Prix Vermille is also going from 250,000 euros to 600,000 euros for this season.

That’s some increase on prize money
they must play a lot of FOBT’s in France
viva the spin….

Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026

[KevMc]

Prize money increase is looking like being rewarded by Cracksman v Rhododendron

[LD73]

Stupid and totally unnecessary name change – does that mean that France-Galop will be rebranding all their courses with the city name in front of it now

[Author]

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