THERE is plenty of sport to look forward to this weekend, as the Bookies.com team are making final preparations for a World Cup bonanza. We love our French horse racing, and given that At The Races are screening Sunday’s Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris card from Auteuil, we ought to take a look at the big race itself which is off at 2.12pm UK time.

Call it the French Gold Cup, call it the French Grand National, call it what you like, but the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris is the highlight of the French jumps season. Fourteen horses are set to slug it out for €820,000 in prize money over the gruelling trip of 5,800 metres. The field have to negotiate a total of twenty three obstacles, and several horses will give up long before the final fence in the home straight.

Most of the talk in the French racing press has been centred around last year’s winner, Remember Rose. His preparation for the big race has gone very well, and thousands of punters will be trusting jockey Christophe Pieux with their euros on the PMU.

She may not win the 2010 Grand Steeple, but Princesse d’Anjou will bow out on Sunday as a champion. It is hard to believe, but the toughest mare in training ran in a claimer with a tag of €14,000 back in 2005. She has since won the Grand Steeple twice, in 2006 and 2008, both when partnered by Irish jockey Philip ‘Philippe’ Carberry.

She is now 9-years-old, but she still has a realistic chance of finishing in the places on Sunday. You can never afford to leave her out of your calculations, even if this is her swansong.  

So is Remember Rose a ‘good thing’ on Sunday?

100/1 Norville du Bois

On what he has showed us so far in his Auteuil career, Norville du Bois has absolutely no chance of winning this race. Better suited for handicap chases, or egg and spoon races like the €14,000 Grand Steeple-Chase de Saumur.

100/1 Mayev

Last won a race in 2008, and got absolutely trounced when he was last seen at the course in the Prix Guillaume Javoy. Strike a line through Mayev’s name on your racecard. 

33/1 Dayladam

Reported to be in fine fettle at home, and Dayladam comes here as a fresh horse. In 2009 he managed third place in the Prix La Haye Jousselin, so he cannot be ruled out as easily as a contender like Mayev. Other runners make more appeal.

14/1 Polar Rochelais

In my opinion, Polar Rochelais is not quite a Grade 1 horse. We know he is a quality animal on his day, as he won a Grade 2 chase last June, but I can seem him being outclassed here. Polar Rochelais is a genuine stayer, and his trainer Patrice Quinton has stated that he does not want the ground too soft for his stable star.

33/1 Lord Carmont

Lord Carmont is eleven-years-old, but he did not race at all last year. This is certainly his last Grand Steeple, and there is no doubt that he is suited by the marathon trip. Back to form this year, it would not be a shock to see him sneak into the places.

Blue Square are offering odds of 33/1 about Lord Carmont, but the French think that he will get sent off near the 6/1 mark on the PMU.

4/1 Doumaja

Doumaja warrants plenty of respect on the back of his win in the Prix Inge, in which he beat Remember Rose, who was at 17/10 on the French Tote. He is training very well at the moment, but his trainer Guy Cherel reckons that he will come up just short on the day.

Worthy of consideration.

16/1 Ramsès Bleu

Jockey Cyrille Gombeau won this race in 2007 on Mid Dancer, but this year he has elected to ride Doumaja instead of Ramsès Bleu.

Ramsès Bleu has had 6 starts this year, and it is not often that you see horses who spent the winter racing around Pau winning the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris.

5/2 Remember Rose

Remember Rose. Remember his win last year, when he was partnered by Christophe Pieux who finished the race with a fractured foot. Remember that he has won the last two renewals of the Prix La Haye Jousselin.

It never pays to get too attached to these champions, but Remember Rose will be spot on physically to win his second Grand Steeple on Sunday. He jumps and he stays, but he is a very short price for the demanding contest.

Hard to pick holes in this favourite - as he has never once fallen in his thirty races!

16/1 Odeillo du Mathan

Odeillo du Mathan finished second in the Prix Murat at 40/1, but he needs heavy ground to be seen at his best. Unlikely to reverse the Prix Ingre form with Remember Rose.

10/1 Objectif Spécial

Trainer Guy Cherel has 4 horses in the race, and Objectif Spécial is a previous winner of the Prix du Président de la République.

Has had an interesting preparation for the Grand Steeple, having raced on the flat at Compiègne and over hurdles at Auteuil. He is very fresh and could surprise a few punters on Sunday. 

11/2 Pommerol

Trainer François Doumen has won the Grand Steeple 5 times before, and is a master when it comes to the big occasions. Having just said that, Pommerol does not have the form to suggest he can get involved at the business end of this race. Dismiss.

7/1 Louping d’Ainay

You cannot miss Louping d’Ainay. He is a smashing grey who is running for the same connections as Princesse d’Anjou. In fact, if you bet on him on the PMU, the 2 horses will be coupled together.

As far as his form goes, he missed 2009 but has come back with a bang, managing to finish second in the Prix Ingre. He is flying at home, and is at ’200%’ according to his trainer. Tempting.

6/1 Princesse d’Anjou

If you see Princesse d’Anjou in the parade ring you will probably laugh. The François Cottin-trained mare looks more like a yearling, who is racing against huge muscular geldings. But as a New York Times blogger puts it, ‘she jumps like a flea and has the heart of a lion.’

She hasn’t won a race since 2008, but the French punters have fond memories of Princesse d’Anjou’s big wins at this course. Her trainer thinks that she is as good as ever at 9-years-old, and there are worse each-way bets out there on today’s card.

8/1 Slingshot

Slingshot is only 5-years-old, but the race he won earlier this month at the track was only listed class. Needs more experience, and connections are happy simply to be taking part. He should be more like 50/1.

bookies.com Grand Steeple 1-2-3:

1. Louping d’Ainay 7/1

2. Remember Rose 5/2

3. Doumaja 4/1

Prices quoted are Blue Square’s odds as of Saturday 29 May. I thought that Slingshot and Pommerol would be more like 33/1!

bookies.com is your best bet for comparing betting odds on French horse racing.

Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris Betting Odds

Prix La Barka Betting Odds (4.45pm UK time)

Kasbah Bliss, winner of last year’s Group 3 Prix Gladiateur and unplaced favourite in the 2009 World Hurdle, is making his reappearance at Deauville tomorrow in a Group 2 contest over 1m4f.

François Doumen is better known over the Channel for his jumpers, but he has already sent out two winners at this month’s Deauville festival. On Verra and Green Rock completed a double ten days ago on the sand course, but tomorrow’s Lucien Barriere Grand Prix De Deauville will be run on Kasbah Bliss’ preferred going – good.

The seven year old is a 13/2 shot for next year’s World Hurdle, but his previous runs have suggested that the undulations of Cheltenham aren’t to his liking. He proved at Longchamp last year that he was also a top class horse on the flat.

He won’t be fully tuned up for tomorrow’s race, so 10/1 is probably a fair price. 

Andre Fabre saddles the 6/4 favourite, Ideal World, who is by Kingmambo. He took the spoils in a listed contest over course and distance earlier this month and should hold off the 5/2 chance Pouvoir Absolu on that form.

Christophe Soumillon has just picked up a ban, and is having a wretched week, so we probably shouldn’t back Wing Express.

Mark Johnston‘s raider, Jukebox Jury, looks of interest at the 3/1 mark. He receives a handy 5kg allowance from the others. The trainer’s last winner in France came in the shape of Laa Rayb, exactly one year ago.

The Great Voltigeur Stakes was a strangely-run affair, but Jukebox Jury ran out a decent winner at Haydock earlier this month. A repeat of that performance will surely see him involved in the finish.

bookies.com is your best bet for comparing international horse racing odds:

Deauville Betting

2009 World Hurdle Betting

Ladbrokes St Leger Betting

Arc De Triomphe Betting