ENGLISH TEXTS
� PAGE 108
By Emmanuel Roussel
JUMP RACING IN THE UK : A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE
Jump racing in Great Britain and Ireland was not designed in the same way as in France . The difference is not so much due to divergent rules , because at heart , with a few details , we can see that horses from France adapt very well to racing in these two countries , which are similar , and have been for a long time : in 1903 , the winner of the Grand National in Liverpool , Lutteur III , had been trained in France .
It ’ s hard to pinpoint exactly how jump racing has diverged on either side of the Channel , just as it ’ s hard to explain in the USA why racing moved from turf to dirt . Like twins raised separately in two countries with different cultures , the brothers still resemble each other , but they no longer speak the same language : that ’ s how we got here . French jump racing , in a centralised country such as France , revolves more than ever around Auteuil , the Parisian racecourse where the nine Group 1 jumps races of the French season are held . Some regions , particularly in the west , still have their own major races , such as the Grand Prix de Pau , the Grand-Cross de Craon , the Anjou-Loire Challenge , etc . However , it is at Auteuil that the selection of the best French jumpers takes place first and foremost . In England , several venues host their own meetings throughout the season . Cheltenham and Aintree are more like finals than the exclusive temple of selection .
This selection starts in France at the age of 3 , first over hurdles in the first half of the year , then over fences in the second half . Then , the 4-yearolds compete in both specialities , and from the age of 5 , with a few exceptions , the horses race against their elders . Note that in the handicap programme , the same distinctions of age and speciality are observed . In Great-Britain , horses hardly ever race at 3 , or not before the very end of the year with , notably , the Chepstow Junior Hurdle ( Gr . 2 ) in Wales ( a race won this winter by the French horse Nietszche Has ). At the Cheltenham Festival , as well as at the Aintree meeting that follows , there is indeed a big race for 4-year-olds , the Triumph Hurdle ( Gr . 1 ), but it is not considered a major event , as it is an alternative route to excellence . Indeed , it is not so much the age of the competitors as their experience over jumps that determines the conditions of a race in Britain . Moreover , the season is not , as in France , orchestrated by the Gregorian calendar , but by the ... hunting season ! For racing , it starts in May with an extremely low-key summer programme , with no major events , and really starts to gather momentum from September onwards . Thanks to the Gulf Stream , which moderates the climate of the British Isles , it is possible to race in winter there , when Paris is frozen . In other words , taking May 1 st as the start date for the jumps season in Great Britain and Ireland , we distinguish between “ novice “ horses , which have not yet won in the speciality , and those that have already won and must therefore race with all the other jumpers . Throughout the British and Irish season , these novice horses benefit from a parallel programme , practically identical to that of the horses that have already won over jumps , with specific championships .
This is the first distinction . Within these parallel programmes , there is a second distinction based on distance . There are , in both hurdles and chases , races over 2 miles , or about 3,200m , and others over 3 miles , or 4,800m or more , but also races around intermediate distances , namely 4,000-4,200m . This is how we have six different “ Grand Steeplechases “ at Cheltenham , ranging from the novice chase over 2 miles ( the Arkle Trophy ) to the Gold Cup over 3 miles 2½ furlongs . There is also often a corresponding handicap . Then there are the obstacles . On French hurdle courses , they are like small fences , well defined but not very high . Steeplechase obstacles vary according to the course and the racecourse . Some , such as the bullfinch , require a form of adaptation , a “ practice “, from the horse , while others are akin to cross-country riding . In Great Britain and Ireland , the hurdles are lightweight panels that a galloping horse can jump over , at a pinch , but which can still catch jumpers out . As in France , it is the last hurdle that is the most dangerous , because it is jumped when the race is already well underway , at the end of the trip , and mistakes are more frequent . This is also true at the beginning of the course because the obstacle can surprise a fresh horse within a large field . However , as the hurdles are more forgiving than ours , these English and Irish races are often run at a faster pace than ours , even though , generally speaking , as on the Flat , British races are more selective than in France . As for steeplechasing , the British obstacles are mostly upright , high fences , which do not leave much room for error : you have to jump them . They are not as long as ours , which favour a good , fluid jump , forwards . For these reasons , British horses
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