THERE was a magnificent meeting at Auteuil last Sunday when France’s best jumpers went through their paces a month before the big 48-hour weekend on November 5th and 6th.

The most exciting event of this afternoon came in the Grade 3 Prix Heros XII where Milord Thomas just prevailed by a head in front of his old rival So French (James Reveley) who had won the previous May’s Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris when Milord Thomas was fourth.