France Galop publishes fixture list and changes to the 2025 programme

At a press conference on Tuesday, 5 February 2025, France Galop revealed the changes and innovations to the 2025 National Hunt racing fixture list and programme.

The main points are as follows :

1. THE NEW SEASON OF THE NATIONAL HUNT RACING PROGRAMME

A change of date to the National Hunt racing fixture list had been the focus of several presentations and discussions during meetings of the National Hunt Racing Board before it was analysed and validated by the Board of Directors.

This change of date to the fixture list had already been requested by racing professionals for many years, in order to prevent their horses from running on potentially very hot days. It was therefore decided to start the season a little earlier and to no longer have any National Hunt racing meetings in Paris during the month of June.

• Impact on the Auteuil racecourse

The Auteuil racecourse will open a week earlier in 2024, with the first meeting taking place on Saturday, 15 February 2025. The opening card features the first leg of the Grand Steeple-Chase Masters : the Gr3 Prix Robert de Clermont-Tonnerre.

The final meeting of the first half of the season at the Auteuil racecourse will this year take place on Saturday, 31 May 2025, featuring the Gr2 Prix des Drags, as well as :

• Prix Hypothèse (Gr3)
• Prix La Périchole (Gr3)
• Prix Stanley (L.)
• Prix Questarabad (Gr3 - Handicap)

In 2025, le Prix Questarabad will be run for the first time as a Handicap for horses with a handicap equivalent or higher than 62k.

The two race meetings, traditionally held at Auteuil during the month of June, will be held at the Normandy based racecourses at a date yet to be determined.

These changes do not affect the number of major race events at Auteuil, which remain at 25

A new National Hunt racing programme in the summer

As the National Hunt racing season in Paris will now end a little earlier, a new summer programme has been devised for the Clairefontaine and Dieppe racecourses.

The programme for these two Normandy based racecourses has been revamped to give horses regular opportunities to run in all types of races.

The level of total prize-money has also been aligned between the two racecourses. This change means that the total prize-money for National Hunt races in 2025 is the same as in 2024.

The introduction of this summer programme has resulted in a change of dates for two major events at Dieppe :

• The Grand Steeple-Chase de Dieppe (L.) has been brought forward to Saturday, 28 June 2025
• The Grande Course de Haies (L.), has been pushed back to Saturday, 12 July 2025.

The Clairefontaine racecourse keeps its four major event races in 2025, with one date change :

• The Prix de Tourgeville, Monday, 30 June 2025
• The Prix Léopold d’Orsetti, pushed back to Monday, 28 July 2025
• The Grande Course de Haies – Prix Guillaume d’Ornano (L.), Monday, 11 August 2025
• The Grand Steeple-Chase de la Ville de Deauville (L.), Wednesday, 27 August 2025

2. EARLIER ENTRY DATES FOR GRADE 1 NATIONAL HUNT RACES

Entry dates for all Grade 1 National Hunt races have been brought forward to allow punters to better identify and follow horses that are being prepared for the main events in the racing calendar. Please remember, entries in National Hunt races are free.

Entries in Grade 1 races over the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris weekend will close on Wednesday, 19 March 2025 (at 10h30 CET+01:00) :

• Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris
• Racing TV Grande Course de Haies d’Auteuil
• Prix Ferdinand Dufaure
• Prix Alain du Breil – Grande Course de Haies de Printemps de 4 ans

The same applies to the Grade 1 races over the 48 Hour Jump weekend with entries closing on Wednesday, 17 September 2025 (at 10h30 CET+01:00) :

• Prix La Haye Jousselin
• Prix Serge Landon – Grand Prix d’Automne
• Prix Maurice Gillois – Grand Steeple-Chase des 4 ans
• Prix Renaud du Vivier – Grand Course de Haies des 4 ans
• Prix Cambacérès

3. A NEW REGIONAL SERIES FOR STEEPLECHASERS

France Galop would like to increase the range of racing opportunities for steeplechasers. To this end, a new regional series of steeplechases has been created. It includes eight different legs based on already existing major events.  

The series’ main aim is to allow horses that are not suited by the Auteuil track to find a programme that is suitable to them:

• Wednesday 21 May 2025 :           Grand Steeple-Chase de Toulouse
• Thursday 22 May 2025 :             Grand Steeple-Chase du Lion d’Angers
• Lundi 9 June 2025 :                   Grand Steeple-Chase de Dax
• Sunday 22 June 2025 :               Grand Steeple-Chase de Lyon
• Sunday 28 September 2025 :       Grand Steeple-Chase de Craon
• Wednesday 15 October 2025 :      Grand Steeple-Chase de Nantes
• Tuesday 11 November 2025 :       Grand Steeple-Chase d’Angers
• Saturday 22 November 2025 :      Grand Steeple-Chase de Bordeaux

Conditions of these steepechases have been standardised : These races are all Class 1 races, worth € 67 000. A horse can be entered and run in several legs of the series.

4. A SERIES FOR YOUNG JUMP JOCKEYS

In 2025, a series of premium National Hunt races will be open to young jockeys only, in the interest to promote the emergence of young talent in this discipline.

A flat racing championship is already in place and with this series, the jump racing world will have a similar programme to offer its up-and-coming jockeys.

The first legs are as follows :

• Fontainebleau, 29 March 2025
• Auteuil, 26 April 2025
• Auteuil, 8 May 2025
• Compiègne, 14 May 2025
• Auteuil, 27 May 2025
• Senonnes, 30 May 2025

5.  2024 NATIONAL HUNT RACING RESULTS

• Activity

Indicators for the National Hunt racing discipline in 2024 were encouraging.

The total number of starters in National Hunt races in 2024 increased by 8 % to 17 595 horses, compared with 16 323 horses in 2023.

The average number of starters in premium National Hunt races in 2024 was 10,3 horses per race, compared to 9,7 horses per race in 2023.

As to races with few or no declared runners (less than 8 declared starters), their number fell by 19,6 % thanks to adjustments made to the programme and fixture list : 213 premium races with less than 8 starters in 2024, compared to 265 races with less than 8 starters in 2023.

This significant reduction of races with less than 8 starters has generated an additional €21,9 million in betting turnover for National Hunt racing.

• 48H Jump weekend 2024

The other major event in 2024 was the postponement of the 48H Jump weekend due to the Paris Olympic Games.

Although the traditional Grand Prix de Bretagne, a major trotting event took place on that same Sunday, figures for the 48 Jump weekend at Auteuil were good:

• The number of starters over the two days was up sharply, with 169 starters in 2024 (149 in 2023), an improvement of 15,5 % ;
• The number of spectators, 4 004 on Saturday and 4 129 on Sunday, is an 13,4 % increase for the 48H Jump weekend at Auteuil.

By organising the 48H Jump weekend later, trial races for this major event where spread out, which gave some horses more time to come back from their summer break. The later date of the weekend hence had a positive impact on the number of starters.

The National Hunt racing Board has therefore agreed to retain that date in the future. The 48H Jump weekend will hence take place on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 November 2025.

In 2025, the Grade 1 Prix Renaud du Vivier will also be run over that fantastic weekend to enhance its appeal even further.