Thyme Hill takes on the best France has to offer over hurdles in Auteuil Grade 1

Saturday: 2.50 Auteuil
Grand Prix d'Automne | Grade 1 | 3m | 5yo | Sky

It's rare for a top-notch British or Irish hurdler to take on the best in France before the domestic spring festivals, so the decision of Philip Hobbs to start Thyme Hill's season at Auteuil is fascinating.

The winner of last season's Grade 1 Stayers' Hurdle at Aintree will meet France's reigning champion L'Autonomie in the Grand Prix d'Automne over three miles, with Galop Marin and Paul's Saga adding further depth to a select field of seven.

"All the training has gone ahead without any hiccups," said Hobbs. "The back issue that kept him out of Cheltenham was sorted by Aintree and everything has gone well this autumn."

Having missed the festival last season the Thyme Hill team toyed with taking on L'Autonomie in May but preferred to pull stumps after his Aintree success and give the seven-year-old a summer at rest.

"Racing Post Ratings would suggest there's not very much between them, although if you convert the French marks, then L'Autonomie is a fair bit better than us," said Hobbs.

"But he's in very good form and he will cope with very soft ground, so I hope that we have a very good chance of at least being placed.

"He's not a difficult horse to get fit. He's done plenty and he won first time out before, so I would hope he's as fit as he possibly can be without having had a run."

L'Autonomie put fears about her stamina to bed when winning the Grand Course de Haies by 30 lengths from Paul's Saga, and has put up two good performances this autumn.

After her success in the Prix Carmarthen, trainer Francois Nicolle praised her new maturity and ability to drop the bridle.

Sophie and Christian Leech will hope to break up the party among the confirmed Grade 1 winners with the only five-year-old in the race, Prix la Barka third Zurekin.

Christian Leech said: "He put up a couple of kilos overweight and met a bit of interference on the home turn in the Barka and I think he could have been a good second.

"He's a good jumper and his future is as a chaser, but we just wanted one more crack in this type of race but up in distance, as his dam won over just shy of three miles as a four-year-old.

"He's got lots of form around Auteuil and this ought to be strongly run, so there are three things that we can look to in the hopes of a bit of improvement."

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