FRANCE: BUDGET REVIEW FOR GALLOP

The directors of the French racing organisation are taking action: last Monday at the Longchamp racecourse there was a heated meeting of the France Galop Board of Directors. In his report, the president Guillaume de Saint-Seine declared that a budget review will be necessary for the second half of the year. The aim is to rationalise expenses given that the first months of the current year have seen a contraction in betting takings of around 6%. Obviously an attempt will be made to recover something in this area, so much so that, according to the PMU representatives present, there are plans to increase the percentage of betting returns for the public. However, in the short term this measure could also lead to a loss of profitability from this point of view. It will therefore be difficult to respect the budget of around 845 million euros forecast at the beginning of the year. A downward adjustment will probably be necessary, as happened last year. It is not yet clear what measures might be taken: the prize money should not be touched, but the idea of renouncing the opening of one of the Parisian racecourses, which is undoubtedly costly to manage, could also come up.