Jockey-Club de Paris the "Hippodrome de Chantilly" is the proving-ground of the best of the three-year-olds, the French equivalent of The Derby at Epsom Downs or the Kentucky Derby in the USA. Until 2004, the course was 2400 meters; since then, it has been run at 2100 meters. In France, only the "Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe" has a richer purse (1,600,000 euros); that race was inaugurated by the Jockey Club in 1863 as the Grand Prix de Paris, and run at the Hippodrome de Longchamp. The racecourse was painted by Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, and Pablo Picasso, among others. Jockey-Club de Paris
Grand Prix du Comminges different route. The hilly terrain allowed for excellent viewing close to the beginning and end of the race from atop a hill at the outskirts of Saint-Gaudens. In 1926, the French Grand Prix was held here over a slightly altered course and in the 1930s, the course layout was modified a few times beginning with changes made to accommodate holding the official French Grand Prix in 1928. At the 1932 race, a stroke of luck saved several spectators from death. René Dreyfus was leading in his Bugatti going into the final lap. Rain fell and on the wet road he