French racing guide: All the key information

How can I bet on French racing?

Bookmakers in Britain will be offering traditional fixed-odds prices on racing in France.

However, punters with some firms also have the option of betting into the PMU, which has been the sole means of wagering on horse racing in France since it was introduced in 1930.

The Pari-mutuel betting is the French version of the Tote – all money bet is divided up among those who have winning tickets, after taxes, takeout and other deductions are made.

The PMU is co-owned by France Galop, the organisation responsible for running the thoroughbred horse racing industry in France, and its trotting counterpart, Le Trot.

What types of bets are available on the PMU?

Many betting opportunities on the PMU are like those available in Britain, including basic options such as Gagnant (Win), Placé (Place) and Couplé Gagnant (Reverse Forecast).

Perhaps the most popular type of bet is the Quinté+, which involves trying to pick the first five horses in the correct order in a designated race every day, with large sums of money to be won.

The Tiercé is another popular bet which works in a similar way, with money to be won for picking the first three horses in the correct order.

French racecourses

There are over 150 racecourses in France that host thoroughbred horse racing, including venues for both Flat and jumps racing. The action under both codes is up there with the best in the world.

Longchamp is undoubtedly the best-known racecourse in France, with its reputation being helped in no small part by its landmark event, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the richest race in Europe which takes place every October.

There are three other racecourses in France that stage Group 1 races on the Flat – Chantilly, Deauville and Saint-Cloud – with Chantilly being the chosen destination for the Arc when Longchamp was closed due to redevelopment in 2017 and 2018.

Auteuil is the centre of jumps racing in France, with the nine Grade 1 hurdles/chases that take place on French soil each year being held there.

Biggest races

There are 28 Group 1 Flat races staged in France each year, eight of which are held at Longchamp during Arc weekend. The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe inevitably takes centre stage, though, with a prize fund of €5,000,000 on offer for Europe’s premier middle-distance race.

Longchamp is also home to the first two classics in the French racing calendar – the Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas) and the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) – and the Grand Prix de Paris, which typically takes place during an evening meeting on the French national holiday of Bastille Day.

Top class! Japan wins the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris for Ryan Moore and Aidan O’Brien at @paris_longchamp… pic.twitter.com/aMlqUgIuMx

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) July 14, 2019

The two remaining French classics – the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) and the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) – are both staged at Chantilly in June, whilst the busy summer schedule at Deauville features five Group 1 contests spread across four consecutive weekends in July/August. They include the Prix Jacques le Marois, one of the season’s championship events over a mile, and the Prix Morny, one of five Group 1 races in France limited to two-year-olds.

Meanwhile, the biggest races over jumps are the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris in May and Grande Course de Haies d'Auteuil in June, both of which take place at Auteuil after the end of the National Hunt season in Britain.

French trainers

The record of André Fabre is without equal in the French training ranks. As well as clinching a 30th trainers’ title in France in 2019, Fabre saddled a record eighth winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in the shape of Waldgeist, his first victory in the race since Rail Link in 2006.

Fabre first won the Arc with Trempolino in 1987, followed by Subotica, Carnegie, Peintre Celebre and Sagamix in the ’90s and Hurricane Run the year before Rail Link. The trainer’s other big-race successes on French soil include 18 classics, the Grand Prix de Paris on 13 occasions and four wins in the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris back in the ‘80s.

Waldgeist pulls off the shock, pipping Enable to the win in the last 50 metres!

It was tight finish to the Qatar Prix De L'Arc De Triomphe

Watch LIVE on @ITV pic.twitter.com/2Xb87mbYr3

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) October 6, 2019

Jean-Claude Rouget finished second in the trainers’ championship in 2019, when his wins included a fourth Prix du Jockey Club courtesy of Sottsass. Rouget did not saddle a classic winner in the first 30 years of his training career, but all that changed when three suddenly came at once in 2009, winning the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches with Elusive Wave, the Prix de Diane with Stacelita and the Prix du Jockey Club with Le Havre.

Those wins helped Rouget secure his first French trainers’ championship – a title he wrested back from Fabre again in 2016 – but he is still waiting for his maiden success in the Arc after Sottsass could finish only third behind Waldgeist in 2019.

The only other person to have won the French trainers’ championship this century is Alain de Royer-Dupré, who took the title thanks largely to the exploits of Zarkava in 2008.

Read more about France's top trainers here.

French jockeys

Like Britain, the jockeys’ championship in France – otherwise known as the Cravache d’Or – is decided by number of winners, which meant that Maxime Guyon took the title for the first time with a tally of 234 winners in 2019.

Guyon is no stranger to success at the highest level, either, having previously tasted classic glory with the likes of Lope de Vega, who won both the Poule d'Essai des Poulains and the Prix du Jockey Club in 2010. Guyon has also won the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, courtesy of Miss France in 2014, but he is still waiting for his first success in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

By contrast, Christophe Soumillon already appears on the roll of honour for the Arc twice, having been in the saddle for the wins of Dalakhani (2003) and Zarkava (2008), both of which came in the colours of his main supporter, the Aga Khan.

Read more about France's top jockeys here.

Best French-trained horses in history

The best French-trained horse in Timeform’s experience is Sea-Bird, who won the Epsom Derby and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 1965. He achieved a Timeform rating of 145 for those victories, which puts him behind only Frankel (147) in our all-time standings.

Another great Arc winner came only three years later in the shape of Vaguely Noble. Sold at the end of his two-year-old season after winning two of his four starts in Britain, Vaguely Noble was trained in France at three and won four of his five outings, culminating in an impressive defeat of that season’s Derby winner, Sir Ivor, at Longchamp. He retired with a Timeform rating of 140.

Highest Timeform Annual Ratings (Flat 3yo+)

147 - Frankel
145 - Sea-Bird
144 - Brigadier Gerard, Tudor Minstrel
142 - Abernant, Ribot
141 - Mill Reef
140 - Dancing Brave, Dubai Millennium, Harbinger, Sea The Stars, Shergar, Vaguely Noble

Full list > https://t.co/zHnAj42ZzT pic.twitter.com/y7vb28Nd8L

— Timeform (@Timeform) June 11, 2019

Peintre Celebre and Montjeu are amongst the best home-trained Arc winners of more recent years. The former ran to a Timeform rating of 137 when successful by five lengths (and shattering the course record) in 1997, whilst Montjeu achieved the same figure when beating Japanese raider El Condor Pasa in a thrilling 1999 renewal.

In terms of this century, several of the most memorable performers in France have been fillies. They include Goldikova, whose 14 Group 1 wins between 2008 and 2011 featured three consecutive renewals of the Breeders’ Cup Mile, and Treve, who became the first back-to-back winner of the Arc since Alleged (1977 and 1978) when successful in 2013 and 2014.

French-trained horses to follow in 2020

André Fabre trained a pair of unbeaten Group 1-winning juveniles for Godolphin last season in the shape of Earthlight and Victor Ludorum. The former won both the Prix Morny and the Middle Park Stakes, whilst Victor Ludorum also announced himself as a potential classic prospect when winning the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Arc day. It will be interesting to see whether Fabre can continue to keep them apart, but, wherever they line up as the 2020 season progresses, there are sure to be more big races to be won with the pair of them.

"Earthlight stays unbeaten!"

Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes goes to Earthlight, who makes it 5 from 5! What a horse 🏇 pic.twitter.com/m5FcQ2xTTM

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) September 28, 2019

Read more about the star performers in France here.

Read more about the unexposed horses to follow in France here.

Where can I watch horse racing in France?

Sky Sports Racing bought the exclusive rights to broadcast French racing in the UK and Ireland for three years from the start of January 2019.

It is also possible to watch races in France when betting on them through the Betfair Exchange.