Auteuil confidential: a guide to finding winners at the home of French jumping

With an ever-growing raiding party from Closutton descending on Paris this weekend and both days of Auteuil's biggest meeting of the year to be broadcast on Sky, interest in French jumps racing has never been higher. So what are the key features of the track, the style of racing, and the level of form required to succeed at Auteuil?

How the races will be run?

As a general rule jump races in France resemble their Flat counterparts, with less emphasis than in Britain and Ireland on setting an end-to-end gallop. Races often develop into something of a sprint up the straight.

The hurdles that Benie Des Dieux and company will encounter in the Grande Course de Haies are miniature chase fences and closely resemble the fixed-brush obstacles used at Worcester, Southwell and formerly Haydock.

There are also more of them. The feature race is over 3m1½f but includes 16 obstacles, compared with just 12 in Cheltenham's Stayers' Hurdle. Even Sunday's Prix Stanley, over 2m2½f, features 11 jumps.

The ground will inevitably be watered to a description of very soft and the forecast does not suggest much chance of conditions drying significantly.

Variety on the chase track

There is much greater variance in height and spread in French chasing obstacles than on a conventional park course in Britain or Ireland, with both the Bullfinch and the Double Barriere (the second-last fence) requiring horses to brush through the softer top of the fence.

The key moments during the Grand Steep will come on the two occasions when the field clear the water jump in front of the grandstands (the Riviere des Tribunes) and at the huge ditches in the back straight.

On the first full circuit the runners jump the left hand or inner portion of the Gros Open Ditch, while on the final lap, with limbs beginning to ache, they must clear the outer Rail Ditch and Fence, nicknamed the 'Juge de Paix' (judge of the peace) and 40cm wider than first time round.

It is the equivalent of having to jump the Chair in place of Valentines' on the second circuit of the Grand National and it can have a dramatic effect on the outcome.

What the professionals say

Francois Nicolle, 2018 champion trainer
For me the Grand Steeple-Chase really starts in earnest when they jump the Riviere des Tribunes for the second time. If you get over that you can start worrying how your horse is going. There are always things that happen in a Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris, it is a race that is very difficult to win because there are so many twists and turns. You need a bit of luck.

Jacques Ricou, Grand Steeple-Chase-winning jockey in 2015
The Riviere comes up for the first time quite early in the race and for the visiting horses it can catch them out. The Gros Open Ditch rides fine for the most part the first time round and the difficulty when they take the Rail Ditch and Fence on the second circuit is the fact it comes so late in the race – you're only 1,000 metres [five furlongs] from the line. It will be the variety of the fences that could be difficult for Willie's horses.

Day of destiny: Jacques Ricou returns victorious after the 2015 Grand Steep' with Milord ThomasCredit: Scoop Dyga

Can a horse without Auteuil experience succeed?

Mullins has won the Grande Course de Haies four times, all when the race was held in June and he had been able to give his challengers a warm up in the Prix la Barka. As for the chase course, it is extremely hard to know how well foreign-trained horses will adapt until they start racing.

A big star over the Auteuil hurdles in his youth, Long Run was well beaten in the 2014 Grand Steeple-Chase under Ruby WalshCredit: John Grossick

How to place your bets

The golden rule to remember is that horses in the same ownership are coupled for win betting purposes (look for E1, E2 etc. on the racecard).

This can be particularly frustrating at Auteuil where a few big concerns tend to dominate. The good news is that you can bet place singles on individual horses rather than the 'ecurie.'

In Britain, some firms have started offering ante-post markets on the bigger races at Auteuil and day-of-race markets will be widely available.

Our team of specialist tipsters will be providing the best bets at Auteuil on Saturday and Sunday. Find their selections at racingpost.com/tipping