History
The event is named after Fontainebleau Forest, the location of the Hippodrome de la Solle racecourse. The Société d'Encouragement organised an annual race meeting at the venue from 1862 to 1891.
The Prix de Fontainebleau was introduced at Longchamp in 1889. It was originally a 2,200-metre contest restricted to horses having their first race of the season.
The modern Prix de Fontainebleau was established in 1952. It was initially run over 1,600 metres, and designed to serve as a trial for the first colts' Classics of the year. The first winner, Thunderhead, subsequently won the 2,000 Guineas in England.
The race's distance was modified several times during the 1960s. It was run over 1,400 metres (1965), 1,300 metres (1966) and 1,500 metres (1967) before reverting to 1,600 metres in 1968.
Sixteen winners of the modern Prix de Fontainebleau have achieved victory in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains. The first was Neptunus in 1964, and the most recent was Silver Frost in 2009.
Read more about this topic: Prix De Fontainebleau
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