SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
France Galop, the governing body of French horse racing, has set out its new multi-year strategy which outlines measures to support the industry’s recovery from the global coronavirus pandemic.
Confirming the roll out of its ‘relaunch project’, which will run for four years, France Galop will focus on ensuring that all race meetings can go ahead by increasing the number of horses in training.
Initiatives include increasing the owner’s premium for two-year-old horses from 60% to 70%, which will also be applied to three-year-olds from 2022.
The French racing sector has suffered during the global shutdown of live sports, which according to the governing body, has meant that consumers have spent €1 billion less on horse racing betting this year than in 2019.
The effects of the pandemic are expected to be felt for years to come, however, with France Galop also noting a 4% drop in the number of two-year-old horses being introduced into training for racing, which could impact the number of race participants.
All proposals outlined in the recovery plan will be put to the France Galop board of directors at the end of November for their approval.
The launch of the new initiative follows on the back of the confirmation that France Galop has selected a number of new members for its Committee.
Bernard Sarramejean was elected to take over from Jérôme Rambaud, who passed away in the summer.
Sarramejean will take the position of President of the South West Regional Council, but will not sit among the 56 voting members of the Committee.
Daniel Théard, president of the Regional Council of Anjou-Maine-Center-Ouest, will also join the committee as a voting member, having previously served as a non-voting member since December 2019.
In addition, Dominique Le Baron-Dutacq, co-opted member, will make a return to the Committee to replace Philippe Augier, who resigned to take over the presidency of the PMU board of directors.
Rounding up the new appointments is Keven Borgel, president of the South-East/Corsica Regional Committee, who will take over from Patrick Dreux, following his resignation.
