★ Prix de Diane Longines

01Pourquoi c'est important

The Prix de Diane occupies the place in the French calendar that Ladies' Day occupies in the British one, without a formal dress code or an aristocratic gate. In our reading its real value is Chantilly itself: a reason to spend a day in one of the best small towns near Paris.

02La semaine environnante

There is no week — this is one day, and Chantilly returns to normal on the Monday. The château, its Musée Condé and the Grandes Écuries stay open, and the training grounds are public and busy at dawn.

03Quand arriver

Come out from Paris in the morning, see the stables or the château before lunch, and be at the course by early afternoon; picnickers should arrive at the gates.

04Où séjourner

Almost everyone stays in Paris and travels out; Chantilly has a modest hotel stock plus the Auberge du Jeu de Paume, and Senlis has more rooms ten minutes away.

05Accès et hospitalité

Everything is sold publicly with no membership requirement, and the lawn and village tickets are among the cheapest admissions to a Group One race in Europe; the restaurant and hospitality tiers sell out earliest.

06Où se déroule l'activité sociale

The lawn in front of the stands, where the picnics are; the parade ring beneath the Grandes Écuries; and in the town the cafés of the Rue du Connétable.

07Comment s'y rendre

08Informations pratiques

09Historique

The race dates to 1843 and was restricted to French-bred fillies for most of its first century. Hermès sponsored from 1983 to 2007 and made it a fashion occasion; Longines took over in 2011. Chantilly hosted the Arc in 2016 and 2017 during Longchamp's rebuild.

10Qui s'y trouve

French owners and breeders and the Chantilly training community; the international fillies' racing and bloodstock trade; Longines and its guests; and a large French public across the lawn.