This year’s French 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas will be staged on June 1 after France Galop announced changes to the racing schedule.
The news came after the authority revealed that it intends to resume racing in France on May 11 with strict procedures due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
All other Group 1 races in Frances are to be moved to different dates and for this year only, three-year-olds will be able to contest the Prix d’Ispahan.
The first day of racing on May 11 is set to include the Group 2 Prix d’Harcourt, the Prix de la Grotte, Prix de Fontainebleau and the Group 3 Prix de Saint-Georges.
A number of races will be lost from the schedule including the Group 2 Prix Eugene Adam and the Group 2 Prix Niel.
Changes have also been announced to jumps fixtures, with a number cut to provide more opportunities for Flat horses, but the Grand Steeple Chase de Paris and Grande Course de Haies d’Auteuil will be run on June 7.
Revised French Group/Grade 1 dates
May 11 Racing restarts with Classic trials, including the Group 2 Prix d’Harcourt
June 1 French 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas, Longchamp
June 7 Grand Steeple Chase de Paris and Grande Course de Haies d’Auteuil, Auteuil
June 13 Prix Alain du Breil and Ferdinand Dufaure, Auteuil
June 14 Prix Saint-Alary and Prix Ganay, Longchamp
June 28 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, Saint-Cloud
July 7 Prix du Jockey Club and Prix de Diane, Chantilly
July 12 Prix Jean Prat, Deauville
July 19 Prix d’Ispahan, Chantilly
August 2 Prix Rothschild, Deauville
August 9 Prix Maurice de Gheest, Deauville
August 16 Prix Jacques le Marois, Deauville
August 23 Prix Jean Romanet and Prix Morny, Deauville
September 13 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris, Longchamp
Too Darn Hot’s brother born
Watership Down Stud welcomed a new arrival this week when Lord and Lady Lloyd-Webber’s Dar Re Mi delivered a Dubawi full brother to their three-time Group 1 hero Too Darn Hot.
The colt is also a brother to the stakes-winning mares So Mi Dar and Lah Ti Dar, as well as to the Dubawi colt out of Dar Re Mi who fetched 3.5 million Guineas at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in 2018.
Simon Marsh, General Manager of Watership Down and Kiltinan Castle Stud, told Thoroughbred Daily News: “We are very happy with the colt foal, and it’s her ninth foal in a row.
“Dar Re Mi is going to Kingman this year. We now have four sisters to Too Darn Hot and I think we just need to try to get some other blood. Putting some miling speed into her seemed to be the right thing to do with Dubawi, and Kingman looks like he’s going to be a very good stallion. I think he’ll suit her very well.”
