ENGLISH TEXTS
refers to all the races that make up a race meeting.” There is a hierarchy between meeting types: Premium or PMH( on-track betting only).“ Premium meetings are those that fund the system. They are evenly split between Trot and Flat and are scheduled first in the calendar with dedicated time slots.” The rest of the programme is woven around the Premium meeting.“ This calendar is submitted to the supervisory authorities in November of the previous year,” continues Pierre Laperdrix.“ Once approved, it can only be changed in case of force majeure- for example, if a racecourse is unable to host the scheduled meeting. Once the calendar is set in stone, we then move on to building the programme.” France is unique, the only country where a major betting race takes place every day- the Quinté bet for the PMU.“ In Hong Kong, for instance, there are only two meetings a week, two racecourses, and only one discipline, flat racing. They don’ t have local breeding, so no selection programme to design. There are no races for unraced horses, only for seasoned ones ready to compete. Their calendar and programme are far easier to create than ours, where we must manage both a selection mission and one of territorial coverage.” Because races are distributed across numerous racecourses all over France. And if modern race organisation began in
1833, it was indeed to“ encourage the improvement of horse breeds in France.” PMH meetings( Pari Mutuel Hippodrome, with on-site betting only) are scheduled by regional federations.“ We try to guide them so that their offering complements Premium meetings, rather than competes with them. Each racecourse is reallocated the same number of days as the previous year, we don’ t start from scratch.”
Optimisation as a goal The next step is to optimise the programme to support horse betting— the lifeblood of the racing industry.“ We try to schedule the most lucrative meetings in the best time slots, regardless of discipline. In France, one of the main factors is the number of runners, because our betting system is based on combination wagers, and a‘ thin’ field will generate fewer stakes.” Studies show the importance of having at least eight runners in a race, as that eighth runner triggers a shift, with betting increasing by 40 %!“ Our job is to adjust the race offering and avoid geographic competition,” concludes Pierre Laperdrix. Indeed, horses are much more mobile than before. A few decades ago,“ heading to Paris” was an adventure for a provincial horse. The mobility of horses is a revolution that complicates the task of race programmers:“ Forty years ago, horses received weight allowances to run in the Paris region, and they built their careers in their own federations. Today, horses trained in Royan race in Paris, and Western trainers enter horses in Strasbourg! We have to be especially smart about races that are sensitive in terms of entries, because a race in Lyon may compete with a similar one in Saint-Cloud.” Finally, Pierre Laperdrix’ s teams are not the sole decision-makers when it comes to black type races. If one needs to be downgraded or moved, they consult the French Principal Races Committee, made up of nine members— trainers, breeders, racing managers... The Flat Racing Council, with a broader membership, meets four times a year. It has its counterpart for jumps. In both disciplines, decisions regarding the most important races must be ratified by the France Galop Board of Directors.
ANY CHALLENG- ES OF THE NH RAC- ING CALENDAR
Stephan Kalley’ s mission, as head of the jump racing programme, is an extremely complex one. The trading of NH horses, often exported as soon as they prove their worth on the track, doesn’ t make his job any easier.“ The profile of owners is no longer what it was fifty years ago, when we had‘ captive’ horses that were never sold. Today, to keep a sta-
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