Entries closing for first of €50,000 'super maidens' as France looks to boost juvenile programme

Entries close at 9.30am UK and Irish time on Monday for the first of 19 newcomers' races across the French two-year-old programme that have received a significant boost in prize-money. 

The Prix du Premier Pas will be staged over the straight five furlongs at Chantilly on April 11 and begins a series that will run throughout the turf season, with the final pair of races to be staged over seven and a half furlongs at Saint-Cloud on October 30.

Each race will be worth €50,000 in total and €25,000 to the winner, while also attracting the 80 per cent owners' premiums for any horse either bred in France or French assimilated. 

Along the way the series takes in a number of the French programme's traditional 'super maidens', such as the Prix de Crevecoeur and Prix des Marettes at Deauville on August 5, as well as the Prix de Fontenoy and Prix de la Cascade at Longchamp on August 30. 

Those four races in particular have a rich recent tradition of throwing up Group 1 performers, with Persian King, Qemah and Senga all beaten on debut at Deauville, while Maxios, Victor Ludorum, Left Hand and the mighty Zarkava have all graduated to top honours after winning one of the two Longchamp events. 

Paul and Oliver Cole took the rare step of sending Glengowan across from their Oxfordshire base to make her debut at Longchamp in 2019, a move which was rewarded with victory in the Prix de la Cascade.

Oliver Cole said: "We've had a lot of good results in France and it's definitely worth looking at these races, I'm sure we'd go."

The decision to run the 19 races for €50,000 is part of a strategic review into the race programme in France designed to encourage trainers to start their horses earlier and campaign their two-year-olds more ambitiously. Last season the Group 1 Darley Prix Morny failed to attract a single home-trained runner. 

French newcomers' 'super maidens' worth €50,000

Victor Ludorum after landing Longchamp's Prix de Fontenoy by three and a half lengths on debutCredit: Racing Post / Scott Burton

Apr 11    Chantilly - Prix du Premier Pas (5f straight, colts, fillies & geldings)

May 9     Chantilly - Prix du Coq Chantant (c&g) and Prix de la Mere Marie (fillies, 5f straight)

Jun 4      Chantilly - Prix d'Ogremont (5½f straight, c&g)

Jun 18    Chantilly - Prix de la Reine Blanche (5½f straight, fillies)

Jul 9        Deauville - Prix de Tancarville (6f straight, c&g) and Prix de Lisieux (6f straight, fillies)

Aug 5      Deauville - Prix de Crevecoeur (7½f right-handed, c&g) and Prix des Marettes (7½f right-handed, fillies)

Aug 30    Longchamp - Prix de Fontenoy (1m right-handed, c&g) and Prix de la Cascade (1m right-handed, fillies)

Sep 20    Chantilly - Prix de Villebon (1m right-handed, c&g) and Prix de Toutevoie (1m right-handed, fillies)

Oct 15     Longchamp - Prix de Belleville (1m1f right-handed, c&g) and Prix de la Chapelle (1m1f right-handed, fillies)

Oct 18     Deauville - Prix d'Hotot-en-Auge (1m right-handed, c&g) and Prix de Saint-Desir (1m right-handed, fillies)

Oct 30     Saint-Cloud - Prix d'Antivari (7½f left-handed, c&g) and Prix Douve (7½f lefthanded, fillies)

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