Emirates Poule d'Essai des Poulains History: The first French classic

Last winner: Metropolitan (c3, FRA by Zarak ex Alianza, by Halling), owned by Peter Bradley & Scuderia Scolari, bred by Stuart McPhee, trained by Mario Baratti, ridden by Alexis Pouchin.

Record-time (Main course): 1’34’’5 by Victory Note in 1998.

The race will be run in 2025 for the 138th time

The 2024 edition

Sunday, May 12, 2024, ParisLongchamp Racecourse (Paris) – A fierce storm struck the Bois de Boulogne between the two Emirates Poules d’Essai, resulting in slightly softer conditions for the 138th edition of the €650,000 Emirates Poule d’Essai des Poulains (Gr1). Thirteen colts lined up, and since no clear leader emerged from the preparatory races, the Irish colt Henry Longfellow (Dubawi) was the reluctant favourite for his seasonal debut. However, he was never in contention. Instead, the English raider Orne (Acclamation) took the lead, flanked by Alcantor (New Bay), despite his draw 13, and outside him, Ramadan (Le Havre), followed along the rail by Metropolitan (Zarak) with Diego Velasquez (Frankel), an Irish entry expected to excel over longer distances, following outside.

Metropolitan wittily used the open stretch in the home straight to sneak inside the leaders. Meanwhile, Alcantor and Ramadan battled to take the lead. Still, they could not hold off Metropolitan, who surged late, and Dancing Gemini (Camelot), another horse expected to stay the distance, rushed late for the 2nd place. Alcantor held on a valiant third, redeeming his puzzling performance at Newmarket in his seasonal debut, with Diego Velasquez coming wide to deny Ramadan fourth place.

As with the fillies' race, the margins were tight: ½ length, short neck, neck, and then ¾, followed by a short head and a short neck.

L’orage est passé et l’outsider Metropolitan (Zarka) a jailli à la corde pour remporter la #Emirates #UAE Poule d’Essai des Poulains (Gr1) ⁦@pouchinalexis⁩ pour Peter Bradley, Scuderia Scolari, et l’entraînement de Mario Baratti. pic.twitter.com/h00slAluWR

— France Galop (@francegalop) May 12, 2024

The race was nearly two seconds slower than the fillies’ race.

Entered in the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club (Gr1), Metropolitan won both his races at two years old: the Prix de Montaigu in August at Deauville over a mile, followed by a class 2 event over the same distance at Chantilly. He made a pleasing seasonal debut in the Prix de Fontainebleau (Gr3), finishing strongly from the back. Here, he made up several lengths on Ramadan and Beauvatier (Lope de Vega), who was never in contention this time.

Alessandro Marconi purchased Metropolitan for €78,000 at the Deauville sales. A four-year-old brother by Myboycharlie just debuted with a seventh-place finish at Durtal. A two-year-old by Elarqam purchased for €21,000 is in training with Stéphane Cerulis, and a Romanised colt was born last year.

Metropolitan's first two dams did not race, but the second dam has sisters who have succeeded at the highest level and even produced Group 1 performers.

History

Restricted to 3-year-old colts over one mile, the Poule d'Essai des Poulains is the French equivalent of the Two Thousand Guineas in England, which also takes place in early May but in Newmarket on a straight course and not at Longchamp with a bend.

Traditionally, these events open the 3-year-olds' Classics season since they are the first Group 1 races of the year for the promotion. It is already a great goal in itself; however, in addition to a test for the rest of the classic crown, according to the ways the colts will handle this first challenge, some of which have never run before on this distance, we will know if they can go further a month later over the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby)'s 2,100 metres/10.5 furlongs trip, for example. On the other hand, some will have to stick for the mile, and others will return on an even shorter one.

This is the main crossroads at the start of the season, the first act in a play that continues until October ...

This event was created in 1883 when a mixed race dating from 1840 called the Poule d’Essai was split into two events – one for the colts and one for the fillies. Not held from 1915 to 1918 or in 1940, it took place at Le Tremblay in 1943, at Maisons-Laffitte in 1944 and 1945, and at Deauville in 2016, 2017 and 2020 because of the renovation at Longchamp or the coronavirus disease that delayed the event by almost a month. Since 1987, it has been run at ParisLongchamp over the main course rather than the middle one.

On two occasions, the finishing order at the winning post has been modified: in 1970, when Faraway Son was demoted to third place for having hindered the second-placed finisher Breton, and in 2001, when Noverre was disqualified after a banned substance was detected in testing. The highest number of starters, 16, went to post in 1914 and 1924, followed by 15 in 1898 and 1999. Only 3 horses took part in 1885, while 4 lined up at the start in 1895, 1905, 1933, 1937, 1965, 1967 and 1979.

The purse increased from €450,000 in 2012 to €500,000 in 2013, then €550,000 in 2014, and €600,000 in 2017. In 2020, however, it was reduced by 40% to €360,000 in a general reduction of the French Groupe 1s prizemoney to secure the budget after the COVID-19 crisis.

The “mixed” Poule d'Essai from 1840 to 1882

This version of the Poule d'Essai was first run in 1840 on the Champ de Mars, over a distance of 1 mile 2 furlongs, roughly one lap of the track. It was won by Gygès, owned by the Duc d'Orléans. From 1841, the distance was reduced to 7 ½ furlongs – around three-quarters of a circuit -, starting just after the Pont d'Iéna bend. From 1857, the Poule d'Essai was run at Longchamp, initially over 7 ½ furlongs, and then over 1 mile after 1867.

Between 1840 and 1882, the Poule d'Essai was only held forty times. There were three cancellations: in 1843 and 1845, due to an insufficient number of entries, and in 1871 because of the war. Of these forty editions, thirty were won by colts and ten by fillies. During that era, the mixed Poule d'Essai was often won by the top 3-year-old of the day. Consequently, the list of the forty winners includes the names of two fillies who went on to triumph in the Prix de Diane: Bounty (1852) and Stradella (1862); and eight colts who were later victorious in the Prix du Jockey Club: Gambetti (1848), Experience (1849), Saint Germain (1860), Monarque (1855), Gontran (1865), Consul (1869), Revigny (1872) and Zut (1879).

During this period, one particular owner dominated this event: Auguste Lupin, whose silks were carried to victory on nine occasions, by Fiametta (1841), Gambetti (1848), Saint-Germain (1850), Florin (1857), Stentor (1863), Saint-Cyr (1875), Enguerrande (1876), Fontainebleau (1877) and Prométhée (1881). Also very prominent with five successes were the colours of Frédéric de Lagrange, courtesy of Stradella (1862), Puebla (1866), Consul (1869), Clémentine (1878) and Zut (1879).

This Poule d'Essai had been based on the model of the "Guineas" run in England at Newmarket in early May over 1 mile, the original Classic test for 3-year-olds. But in England, there were two separate events: the Two Thousand Guineas (for horses of both sexes), run since 1809, and the Thousand Guineas, contested by fillies only since 1814. This segregation of the sexes was adopted in France in 1883, once the increased rate of thoroughbred births meant that there would likely be a sufficient number of starters for each of the two events.

The Poule d'Essai, the Jockey Club and the Grand Prix de Paris.

Winning all three of these races over increasing distances (1 mile, 1 ½ mile and 1 mile 7 furlongs) was regarded as a feat within the capabilities of a horse of truly high quality. Dreaming of such a treble is one thing, but actually achieving it is another. From 1883 to 1986 (the year when the distance of the Grand Prix was reduced to 1 mile 2 furlongs), five winners of the Poule d'Essai des Poulains won the Jockey Club: Heaume (1890), Perth (1899), Retz (1902), Dagor (1913), Right Royal (1961). Five also triumphed in the Grand Prix de Paris: Arreau (1896), Perth (1899), Chéri (1901), Verdun (1909), Fiterari (1927). Only one, though, managed to prevail in all three. This unique horse, nothing short of the perfect thoroughbred, was named Perth. Since 2005, the year in which the distance of the Jockey Club was reduced to 1 mile 2 ½ furlongs, three winners of the Poule d’Essai have gone on to win the Jockey Club: Shamardal (2005), Lope de Vega (2010) and Bravetot (2017).

Foreign horses

It was not until 1981 that the first visitor from abroad left his name on the race’s winners’ list. The colt in question was England’s Recitation, who had been victorious in the Grand Critérium on the same course the previous year. After a 14-year hiatus, the overseas contingent enjoyed a flurry of further successes, four for English competitors: Vettori (1995), Victory Note (1998), Bachir (2000) and Shamardal (2005); and five for Ireland: Landseer (2002), Aussie Rules (2006), Astronomer Royal (2007) The Gurkha (2016), St Mark's Basilica (2021).

Partnerships

This race, like the corresponding race for colts, was sponsored from 1986 to 2001 by Dubai, one of the seven states of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). From 2002 to 2006, Gainsborough, the name assigned by Sheik Maktoum Al Maktoum (who died on January 4, 2006) to his stud farms located in Berkshire (Great Britain) and in Kentucky (USA), took over. Abu Dhabi, via the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, became a partner of the two races in 2017, then the United Arab Emirates via the term Emirates in 2018.

Owners

• Rothschild family (10 wins): Brio (1887), Heaume (1890) and Le Nicham II (1893) for Alphonse, Verdun (1909) and Sifflet (1910) for Maurice, Mont Blanc (1922) and Brantôme (1934) for Edouard, Guersant (1952), Cobalt (1953) and Soleil (1966) for Guy.
• Edmond Blanc (8 wins): Arreau (1896), Governor (1900), Vinicius (1903), Gouvernant (1904), Val d’Or (1905), Ouadi Halfa (1907), Lord Burgoyne (1911), Dagor (1913) ;
• Karim Aga Khan (8 wins): Zeddaan (1968), Kalamoun (1973), Blushing Groom (1977), Nishapour (1978), Ashkalani (1996), Daylami (1997) and Sendawar (1999).
• Niarchos Family (6 wins): Melyno (1982), L’Emigrant (1983), Hector Protector (1991), Shanghai (1992), Kingmambo (1993), Karakontie (2014). 
• Sue Magnier, with Robert Sangster, Derrick Smith, and/or Michael Tabor (6 victories): Victory Note (1998), Landseer (2002), Aussie Rules (2006), Astronomer Royal (2007), The Gurkha (2016), St. Mark's Basilica (2021).
• Wertheimer Family (5 wins): Riverman (1972) for Germaine, Green Dancer (1975), Red Lord (1976) and Green Tune (1994) for Jacques, Falco (2008) for Wertheimer&Frère.
• Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum and Godolphin (6 wins): Soviet Star (1987) for Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, Vettori (1995), Shamardal (2005), Persian King (2019), Victor Ludorum (2020), Modern Games (2022) for Godolphin.

Trainers

• Robert Denman (11 wins): Regain (1883), Archiduc (1884), Vinicius (1903), Gouvernant (1904), Val d'Or (1905), Ouadi Halfa (1907), Lord Burgoyne (1911), Dagor (1913), Le Traquet (1921), Sir Gallahad (1923) and Astérus (1926).
• André Fabre (8 wins): Siberian Express (1984), Soviet Star (1987), Vahorimix (2001), Clodovil (2003), Lope de Vega (2010), Make Believe (2015), Persian King (2019), Victor Ludorum (2020).
• François Mathet (7 wins): Tantième (1950), Relko (1963), Zeddaan (1968), Kalamoun (1973), Blushing Groom (1977), Nishapour (1978), and Melyno (1982).
• François Boutin (6 wins) : L'Emigrant (1983), Blushing John (1988), Linamix (1990), Hector Protector (1991), Shanghai (1992) and Kingmambo (1993).
• Etienne Pollet (5 wins): Côte d'Or II (1954), Tyrone (1957), Right Royal (1961), Neptunus (1964) and Blue Tom (1967).
• Aidan-Patrick O’Brien (5 wins): Landseer (2002), Aussie Rules (2006), Astronomer Royal (2007), The Gurkha (2016), St. Mark's Basilica (2021).
• Alec Head (4 wins): Buisson Ardent (1956), Riverman (1972), Green Dancer (1975) and Red Lord (1976).

Jockeys

• Freddy Head (6 wins): Green Dancer (1975), Red Lord (1976), Blushing John (1988), Linamix (1990), Hector Protector (1991) and Shanghai (1992).
• George Stern (5 wins): Val d'Or (1905), Ouadi Halfa (1907), Monitor (1908), Lord Burgoyne (1911) and Dagor (1913).
• Roger Poincelet (5 wins): Mistral (1945), Tantième (1950), Buisson Ardent (1956), Tyrone (1957) and Right Royal (1961).
• Yves Saint-Martin (5 wins): Adamastor (1962), Relko (1963), Zeddaan (1968), Melyno (1982) and No Pass No Sale (1985).
• Paul Blanc (4 wins): Rigolo (1948), Free Man (1951), Guersant (1952) and Cobalt (1953).