1. When Was The First Documented Horse Race In France War
2. When Was The First Documented Horse Race In France Today
3. When Was The First Documented Horse Race In France Map
4. When Was The First Documented Horse Race In France Right Now

1. Odds are correct at time of publishing but are subject to change. ©2006-2021 Value Checker, part of Invendium Limited.
2. The highest paying horse racing event in the world in the Pegasus World Cup in the United States, which had a purse of $16 million in 2018. A new event, the first race was won by Mike E. Smith in 2017, when he rode the World’s Best Racehorse of 2016, Arrogate, to victory.

France's first serious entry into horse racing was the Longchamp racecourse located in the heart of Paris which opened in 1857 and is the home of the richest race in the world, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Today horse racing is still popular with racecourses located near almost every medium and major cities.

By the start of the World War II, a substantial British racing community had grown up in France’s main racing town of Chantilly, just north of Paris. During the previous 100 years, that community had played a key role helping shape the sport in the country and had come to regard the picturesque town as home. That situation was not to last much longer, as John Gilmore recounts in the first of two reports on a sorry episode in racing history.
Read Part II: The defiant few who helped Chantilly survive the Nazi years

Germany's humiliating World War II defeat of France in just six weeks, culminating in capitulation on June 21, 1940, was a major turning point in the fortunes of the British horse racing community in Chantilly.

A large number had already returned to Britain after both France and Britain declared war against Germany on Sept. 3, 1939. Those remaining eventually either made a last-minute dash for England or found themselves rounded up and interned in prison camps for four years.

The Britons’ love affair with Chantilly began more than 100 years earlier. When Queen Victoria’s cousin, Lord Seymour, was out hunting in the forests of Chantilly in 1833 with friends, he noticed the possibility of a racetrack on the lush turf in front of the chateau. Henri Duc d’Aumale, only 11 at the time but owner of the chateau and surrounding lands, was advised by his elder brother, Ferdinand-Philippe Duc d’Orleans, in all affairs. As avid horse lovers, the family were only too grateful to pursue Lord Seymour’s idea.

The pioneer trainers, racecourse ground staff, jockeys, lads, and Thoroughbred horses were initially brought over from England - where horseracing was fully established - to develop the racecourse and install training facilities in the surrounding area. The number of racecourses and meetings quickly expanded in France and continued doing so right up until the 1930s, when the country was hit by high unemployment. The French had previously considered racing as an unsuitable source of work because of its association with gambling.

The first official race at Chantilly was staged in 1834. Two year later, the inaugural Prix du Jockey Club for colts was won by Frank, and in 1843, the initial Prix de Diane for fillies took place, helping to establish Chantilly as a great new venue for racing.

The pioneer trainers Carter, Cunnington, Jennings, and their descendents were to have a big impact on French racing up until the World War II. Lord Seymour won the first three Prix du Jockey Club races with horses trained by Thomas Carter. The Carter family name left an indelible mark on Chantilly, winning a remarkable 26 Prix du Jockey Club races between 1836 and 1937.

From the outbreak of war in 1939, all French racecourses were closed until further notice and Chantilly's vast training centre became a French air force base. When possible, training operations were transferred to the nearby Lamorlaye stables and gallops.

A number of training establishments were requisitioned by the French Army, as it prepared to go to war. In a way, that helped a large majority of the British racing community decide to pack their bags and leave while the going was good, with many of those young enough wanting to sign up to fight for their country.

The extent of the Britons’ influence in the Chantilly region is illustrated by the annual trainers’ records showing a total of 43 trainers listed at the beginning of 1939. That figure had fallen to just 17 by the end of the following year after the British left.

The situation was made worse because the top Jewish racehorse owner families - the Rothschilds, Sterns, Wertheimers, and Wildensteins - had to leave the country in a hurry.

After occupation, the Germans wasted no time transferring most of the top horses, including classic winners, from the leading owners to Nazi Germany, where they were raced and bred by German owners. Many were never returned, even after the war.

All the Rothschild horses were auctioned in 1941 by the Vichy regime that nominally ran France, to German buyers. French owners rallied round to take care of horses remaining from other exiled owners, including Baron de Nixon and the Wertheimers. Leading British owner-breeder Lord Derby transferred his French-based racehorses to run in the Marquis de Saint-Sauveur’s name during the war to avoid them being taken by the Germans.

By 1941, only 2,000 racehorses were still in training in France, half the 1939 total. Many were killed as a result of German bombing in 1940. Allied bombing in 1944 was also responsible for killing a number of stallions and mares at Normandy studs.

Most of the Carter and Cunnington racing families, whose ancestors arrived in the 1830s, had to leave in a hurry after the outbreak of war - apart from the few who had taken out French nationality. The only Carter trainer left in Chantilly was Percy and the only Cunnington was John Jack. Chantilly-based racing historian and journalist Michel Bouchet, now 88, remembers this period well.

'I grew up and was at school with some of the sons of the British trainers at this time, when racing was still the life's blood of the town,” Bouchet said. “To see members of great racing families like Batchelor, Carter, Cunnington, Jennings, Pratt, Watts, Watkins, and many others leave for England, never to come back, was a very sad moment in the town's history.'

Stable lad William Darey, who arrived in Chantilly in June 1928 at age 21, along with 50 others from England, recounted this time vividly in 1995, the year before his death.

'It was just like being back home, everybody spoke English in the shops, virtually the first French word I learnt was ‘chemise’ when first buying a shirt at The Sporting Taylor, opposite as it was then the Hotel du Condé,” Darey said

'I soon got work as a lad with the Jennings stable, and things went well for me over the next ten years, I became a jump jockey and married a local French girl.'

After war was declared in 1939, Darey, with wife Adeline and recently born baby Michel, decided to stay in France.

'A lot of my racing friends left for England immediately,” he said. “But the initial news bulletins in France gave the indication that the French air force and military would be able to defeat any German attack on the country, so we took a chance and stayed.”

In May 1940, things turned for the worse as the Germans advanced through Belgium, and Darey and his wife, who was now pregnant again, began thinking of leaving for England. But it was too late.

'I was woken up at about 6 o’clock on May 27 to the sound of aircraft overhead and bombs dropping nearby,” he said.

The next few hours were frightening for the residents as bombs rained down.

“After talking with other British racing people still in Chantilly and listening to the BBC World Service reporting the north route to England was now totally cut off, going south or west to escape, seemed the only solution,” Darey recalled.

“There was total panic in the town and I just wanted to get away from it all with my family,” he continued. We took some food and money a few spare clothes for the baby and started walking with others to Paris, pushing the pram.

“It was a nightmare. People were screaming from time to time as bombs continued dropping around us, and we all had to keep going off the road into ditches or hiding in the fields and forest alongside until it subsided.

“The bombers seemed to be deliberately targeting the civilians. How eventually my family made it safely to Paris, tired and hungry, without suffering any serious injury, I will never know. Unfortunately, others were not so lucky.'

In Paris, they went to the British Embassy to seek help, but the only advice offered was to make their way to Marseille and catch a boat to England via Portugal.

'With no trains running at that time, walking to Marseille with a pregnant wife and baby in a pram didn't seem a very practical proposition,' Darey said. “In the end, we stayed with some French friends in Paris for a while and, having no alternative after France was beaten, returned to Chantilly at the end of June, by train this time.

“By the end of July, I was arrested, along with the rest of the British community in Chantilly, interrogated at Senlis [town near Chantilly] by the German occupying forces, then sent initially to Drancy [internment camp in north-east Paris] and later Saint Denis men’s camp [nearby] for the next four years.'

Ninety seven British men and women from Chantilly were rounded up and interned by the German occupying forces. Some, who had taken out French nationality before 1927 thinking they were safe, were also interned - the Germans making this French law null and void.

“Prison life was hard and very cold in the winter, and there were a lot of English-speaking Australians, Americans, and others who were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, but in general the British were treated a lot better than some other nationalities and I saw some cruel things that I would not wish to talk about,” Darey recalled.

“The diet was not too bad, with the Red Cross providing food parcels, and there was even a German officer at the camp who owned racehorses and treated us a bit better after recognising a couple of jockeys who had won races for him in Germany.'

But Darey was extremely lucky to survive the war.

'A fellow Russian prisoner who was a doctor saved my life when I needed a very serious operation to my nose and the Germans refused to do it,” he said. “The only contact I had with the outside world was the occasional allowed visits by my wife.'

Liberated in August 1944, Darey went back to Chantilly to try and pick up the pieces. It was a very different racing world.

'I was lucky,” he said. “Adeline had a job as a secretary with a notaire [lawyer in a public office] and still lived in our old flat just round the corner from St. Peter's Anglican Church, with our two children, Michel and Gerard. Trainer John Cunnington informed me that most of the British trainers had left for England four years earlier and my old boss, John Jennings, had managed to be one of them despite leaving it late.

“With fewer horses in training, and times being hard, I quickly realised stable jobs would be scarce. Unlike before the war, the French were now keen to accept work in racing stables.'

Darey was fortunate in being married to a French woman with a job and a flat, which enabled him to take his time looking for work. After four years’ internment, others who were single or had no financial means or job prospects and little help from the French or British governments simply gave up and went back to England.

'I understood their anger and admit I was fortunate not to be in the same position myself,' Darey said. 'After six months, I managed finally to find a good job as head lad with top French trainer Charles Semblat, who knew me before the war. Things went well and I reached the highlight of my racing career when preparing Le Petit Prince to win the 1954 Prix du Jockey Club. It was a fantastic feeling.'

The French horse racing industry: an ambitious transformation plan aimed at boosting horse racing

25 May 2016

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A new brand, EpiqE, and new spectacular events offer, the EpiqE Series

Paris, 18th May 2016 – EpiqE, the new common brand of the horse racing world, was unveiled this morning by all actors in the sector (France Galop, LeTROT, the Fédération Nationale des Courses Hippiques*, PMU and Equidia). It aims to transform the sector and profoundly renew the horse racing experience of punters and racegoers, aficionados and novices alike. (*the French National Horse Racing Federation)

The horse industry is a major economic sector in France and relies in particular on horse racing, a unique and popular event that attracts over 2-million viewers and enthusiasts every year. In 2015, French gambling approached 10 billion euros for approximately 18,000 gallop and trotting races organized in the 236 racecourses throughout France, which is nearly half of all racecourses in Europe (500). This is a sector of excellence which has now chosen to upgrade its facilities to strengthen and renew its offers and audience.

The requirements of the general public in terms of entertainment kept on evolving over the past years, and the horse racing industry has launched a highly ambitious in-depth reflection process to enhance the visibility and power of attraction of horse racing events.

In order to widen the audience interested in horseracing and develop their commitment, racecourses will be modernized to enhance the overall experience of gambling and races by ensuring viewers are more familiar with horses and those actively involved in racing. TV broadcasting of major meetings will now draw its inspiration from the greatest international sporting events and offer innovative formats to turn races into truly spectacular sporting events. Events offer will be clearer and more regular. And finally, the experience for the audience and TV viewers will be greatly enhanced by digital innovations that offer more content, a second screen and interactivity.

A new brand for a new offer of spectacular events

The horse racing industry now has a name and an identity: 'EpiqE'. Backed by the entire sector, this new brand will enhance the visibility and clarity of races in order to boost the power of attraction of spectacular events. As an extension to the creation of this new identity, a new and clearer offer has been devised with the launch of the 'EpiqE Series' circuit, an offer easier to understand for the general public.

EpiqE Series, which influence will be worldwide, will include the 14 most outstanding French trotting and gallop races globally renowned for their prestige. First of all, the world's best gallopers will meet to take part in 7 prestigious events and attempt to win, in fine, the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the world final in their discipline, on the 2nd of October in Chantilly. In the autumn, the world's best trotters will once again take over with a circuit composed of 7 events that will lead them to the Holy Grail of their discipline, the Prix d’Amérique Opodo. The kick-off for this new spectacular event will be given on the 5th June 2016 in Chantilly for the Prix du Jockey Club.

Hard-hitting TV broadcasting with new ambitions

The TF1 group is the new broadcaster of these horse races, mainly via LCI on channel 26 on free-to-air DTTV. A live programme lasting 45 minutes will therefore be devoted to broadcasting each meeting. TF1 will supply live broadcasting of the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the Prix d’Amérique Opodo. And finally, weekly series of 52 one-minute episodes will be broadcast on Sunday evenings at 7.50 pm on TF1 starting the 22nd May 2016. The general public will be able to watch all episodes of the series on MyTF1.fr, Epiqe.fr and on social networks.

New means require new ambitions. By implementing this newly devised strategy to upgrade horse racing, by 2020 the industry aims to double the number of TV and digital horse racing viewers, achieve a 30% increase of people going to racecourses and register a 20% rise in betting over the same period.

About LeTROT:

When Was The First Documented Horse Race In France War

LeTROT's primary mission is to develop trotting races in France and protect the specific characteristic of French trotters. It is responsible for upholding the rules of trotting in France and ensures the sporting and economic development of the trotting industry. Every year, LeTROT organizes 11,157 trotting races throughout 221 racecourses and through 1,543 meetings (figures for 2015), with the climax of international competitions such as the Prix d’Amérique Opodo, the Grand Prix de France, and the Grand Prix de Paris. It is directly responsible for managing 4 racecourses: Paris-Vincennes, Enghien, Caen & Cabourg and the International Training Centre in Grosbois. www.letrot.com

About France Galop:

France Galop stands out as the organizer of major horse racing events of international repute such as the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the Prix de Diane Longines, the Prix du Jockey-Club or the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris. France Galop plays an essential part in the organization of over 7,000 flat and jump races in France every year. It is also responsible for the management of 6 racecourses (Auteuil, Longchamp, Saint-Cloud, Maisons-Laffitte, Chantilly and Deauville) and 3 training centers of global repute (Chantilly, Maisons-Laffitte and Deauville). www.france-galop.com

About PMU:

PMU is an Economic Interest Group made up of 60 racing associations. Its mission is to finance the French horse racing industry that includes 180,000 jobs via its net result (€807 M in 2015). PMU is the leading pari mutuel operator in Europe and 3rd at global level, with close to 10 billion euros in stakes in 2015. With 12,800 points of sales in France, PMU gives its 6 million customers the opportunity to place their bets via the Internet or by phone. Since 2010, PMU.fr has also been accepting bets on sporting events and poker. PMU is one of the leading actors in the sector, exporting its activities to 46 countries via 66 partners that commercialize gambling on French races. Furthermore, PMU is also a direct operator abroad with 3 subsidiaries: Eurotiercé in Belgium, a majority stake in German Tote in Germany and PMU Brasil in Brazil.entreprise.pmu.fr

About EQUIDIA:

EQUIDIA is the top horse racing media in Europe with close to 3-million TV viewers every month, and two channels:

• EQUIDIA Live, the channel devoted to punters, with 1.7-million TV viewers enjoying live races in HD mode.
• EQUIDIA Life, a channel devoted to horse racing, adventure and escapism, provides novel programmes dedicated to the 37-million French people interested in horses.

This TV offer comes with a digital offer:

When Was The First Documented Horse Race In France Today

• Equidia.fr, EQUIDIA Play, mobile applications
• EQUIDIA and EQUIDIA Live + and major presence on social networks.

About the Fédération Nationale des Courses Hippiques:

The Fédération Nationale des Courses Hippiques is an association under the French law of 1901 in charge of coordinating the common policy of Horse Racing Institution members, representing the Horse Racing Institution, and defending its general interests, with the public authorities in particular. It submits for approval to the Ministry of Agriculture a fixture list passed on by the racing associations and regional federations, manages the Common Racing Fund and unclaimed winnings, defines trends in terms of social policy and implements the anti-doping policy. www.fnch.fr

EPIQE Press contacts:

When Was The First Documented Horse Race In France Map

Image 7

Grégoire Lucas: +33153707494 – glucas@image7.fr

When Was The First Documented Horse Race In France Right Now

Delphine Peyrat-Stricker: +33153707414 – dpeyratstricker@image7.fr