4 French racecourses to watch with punting pointers

French racing is set to continue on Monday and we have picked out the key information for the big tracks that will be hosting the action.

Longchamp

Racing in France returns with a brilliant card at the country’s most famous racecourse based in Paris. The course is home to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, one of the biggest races in the world but Longchamp hosts a wealth of top racing and Classic contests throughout the year. Overlooked by a huge new grandstand, the main track features a wide and long home stretch while it is quite a fair track, so the best horses tend to finish first past the post.

Toulouse

The opening day of French racing also features action in the south of France in Toulouse. It is a Flat right-handed course on the outskirts of the city with a turf track on the outer and an all-weather surface on the inside. Look out for runners from French Derby-winning trainer Jean-Claude Rouget, he has a 27 per cent strike-rate at the course.

Saint Cloud

Another of Paris’s finest racecourses, Saint-Cloud will host racing on Tuesday with a good ten-race card. The track is in a triangle-like shape, and runners going over a mile-and-a-half trip will complete a full lap when starting in front of the grandstand. Two Group 1 races are held each year at the course, including the famous Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud which was won by Coronet for Frankie Dettori last summer. Top jockey Maxime Guyon is one to watch, as £1 on all his runners in the past five seasons returned a profit of £67.60.

Chantilly

One of the country’s most picturesque racecourses, Chantilly has been racing since 1832 and is the home of the French Oaks and Derby. Their action resumes in the venue situated north of Paris on Wednesday with a ten-race card featuring a Group 3. The town itself is a key training base with more than 2,000 horses in training, while the racecourse has five different tracks. James Bond fans may have seen the racecourse feature in the 1985 film A View To A Kill.