With the resumption of French racing planned for Monday, May 11, France Galop has released a revised racing programme for the period of May 11 to 31.
All meetings will take place behind closed doors and under strict sanitary measures as previously trialed in the country before racing was suspended. There will be 14% more races at the Parisian courses of ParisLongchamp, Chantilly and Saint-Cloud than originally scheduled during that time period, to include an extra 22 races for 3-year-olds and 24 for older horses. The number of races rescheduled for the provinces has been increased by 15%.
Beyond May, the rescheduled Classics and Group 1 races will be run from June 1 as follows:
- June 1 – Emirates Poule d'Essai des Poulains and Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (ParisLongchamp)
- June 14 – Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary and Prix Ganay (ParisLongchamp)
- June 28 – Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (Saint-Cloud)
- July 5 – Prix du Jockey Club and Prix de Diane (Chantilly)
- July 19 – Prix d'Ispahan (now open to 3-year-olds, Chantilly)
- Sept. 13 – Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris (replacing the Qatar Prix Niel in 2020 only, ParisLongchamp)
The Classic trials have also been rescheduled:
- May 11 – G3 Fontainebleau/Grotte (ParisLongchamp)
- May 14 – G3 La Force/Vanteaux (ParisLongchamp)
- June 6 – G2 Greffulhe/G3 Cleopatre (Chantilly)
- June 10 – G3 Guiche/Listed Finlande (Chantilly)
- June 19 – G3 Paul de Moussac/Sandringham (Chantilly)
- July 14 – G2 Malleret/G3 Lys (ParisLongchamp)
- Aug. 8 – G2 Hocquart (Deauville)
A total of 16 stakes races will be lost from the 2020 programme in France, including the G2 Prix Eugene Adam and G2 Prix Niel.
Entries for the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Sunday, Oct. 4 will be taken a month later than usual, in mid-June, though no firm date has been fixed yet.
A statement released by France Galop on Friday read: “In view of a resumption of activity behind closed doors from Monday, May 11, France Galop has reshaped its calendar and its programme for the period from May 11 to 31 to optimise the races on offer, both in Paris and in the provinces, for Flat and jumping. The sanitary measures which need to be observed in order to allow the organisation of race meetings behind closed doors cannot be taken on all racecourses. Consequently, plans to develop and relocate certain race meetings are being considered.
“France Galop has worked to respect the balance that makes French racing and breeding so successful and dynamic. Thus, all categories, disciplines, regions and different stud books continue to receive a share of the resources equivalent to that from which they benefited before the interruption of the racing programmes.”
Once government approval is granted, racing should resume on May 11 at ParisLongchamp, with a meeting that will include the G2 Prix d'Harcourt and two Classic trials. There will also be racing at Toulouse in the south of France that day, as well as a jumps fixture at Compiegne.
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