Recurring Events Established in 1843 - Prix de Diane, Ebor Handicap, Royal Hunt Cup, Ebor Festival, New Stakes (Paperback)

Chapters: Prix de Diane, Ebor Handicap, Royal Hunt Cup, Ebor Festival, New Stakes. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 35. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Prix de Diane, sometimes referred to as the French Oaks, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 2,100 metres (about 1 mile and 21/2 furlongs), and it is scheduled to take place each year in June. The event was inspired by the Oaks Stakes in England, and it was named after the mythological goddess Diana (French name Diane). It was first run on May 18, 1843, and it was originally restricted to horses born and bred in France. Its distance was set at 2,100 metres, which is around 300 metres shorter than that of the English Oaks. The race departed from its regular venue during the 1848 French Revolution, when it was switched at short notice to Versailles. It was not run in 1871 due to the Franco-Prussian War. The Prix de Diane was abandoned throughout World War I, with no running from 1915 to 1918. It resumed the following year with the first of two post-war editions at Longchamp. It returned to Chantilly in 1921, and with the exception of a single year at Longchamp in 1936, it continued at its usual home until World War II. It was cancelled in 1940, and for the following two years it was contested at Longchamp. It was run over 2,150 metres at Le Tremblay in 1943 and 1944, and it then returned to Longchamp for three more years. The event was opened to foreign participants in 1946. It moved back to Chantilly in 1948. The first foreign-trained horse to win the Prix de Diane was Sweet Mimosa in 1970, who was trained in Ireland by Seamus McGrath. When the present system of race grading was introduced in 1971, the event was classed at the highe...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=3807