Le Grand Steeple Chase de Dieppe de 1856. Franc Picard 1., Odiham 2., Hercules 3.

Title

Le Grand Steeple Chase de Dieppe de 1856. Franc Picard 1., Odiham 2., Hercules 3.

Very decorative view of the horse race ‘La Grand Steeple Chase’. The French town of Dieppe adopted the trend from England of organising horse races. From 1852, the town had a racecourse. Since then, Dieppe has organised ‘steeple-chases’, an English term for steeplechases. Those who organised races were referred to as ‘sportsmen’. The term ‘sport’ was used in France to describe horse racing, as documented by the Littré dictionary in 1883. The race was first held on May 25, 1874 and was initially known as the Grand National de France. It was intended to be the French equivalent of the Grand National, a famous steeplechase in England. It was originally a handicap race open to horses aged four and over. The first race was run over 6,400 meters, and in the second year the distance was shortened to 6,000 meters. The race was given its current name, the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris, in 1876 and the distance was extended to 6,500 meters in 1889. In 1890, the race was no longer run as a handicap, but a fixed “age weight” was introduced. After Louis Robert Heyrault.

c. 1857

Artist

John Harris after Louis Robert Heyrault