France Galop prepares racing recovery plan

The governing body has outlined a four-year strategy to boost horseracing following the pandemic.

France.- The governing body for flat and steeplechase horseracing has drawn up a four-year plan designed to ensure the industry’s recovery after the impact of the pandemic. 

The relaunch programme will aim to send more young horses into training to ensure sufficient runners so that all races can go ahead at meetings.

It will increase the owner’s premium for two-year-old horses from 60 per cent to 70 per cent, and extend this to three-year-old horses from 2022.

It will also suspend the contributions charged by training centres for two-year-olds until March and create a new chip track facility for 840 two-year-old horses at the Chantilly training centre.

The body said it had seen a 4 per cent drop in the number of two-year-old horses beginning training for racing  this year. That decline could impact the number of horses racing in future years, and in turn impact on betting stakes.

The amount spent on horseracing betting in France has fallen by €1bn compared to 2019 due to the cancellation of race meetings during Covid-19 lockdown measures.

The relaunch plan will be put to France Galop’s board of directors at the end of November.

Bernard Sarramejean has been elected to the board to replace Jérôme Rambaud, who passed away in the summer. He will not join the 56-member voting committee.

Dominique Le Baron-Dutacq has returned to the committee to replace Philippe Augier, following the latter’s resignation to become president of PMU’s board.