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can any one answer as to why French horse racing prize money seems to be ten times that of ours ?.
When ever i see the results in the RP the prize money on offer is fantastic, or is this just a snap shot of what French racing offers and not the true picture?.
Trainers/Owners are often lamenting about the lack of prize money on offer yet we see such small fields. and when there is a hint of decent prize money the felds get even smaller ….
Three words – Pari, Mutuel and monopoly.
If only we had a similar system here!
But we "prefer" to pay huge amounts to attend race meetings, to race for miniscule prize money, and bet to 150% overround, or more, on the Grand National.
Orange, look on page 2 for a thread about the AW races being fixed. There you’ll find several rants by myself, Venusian + others. We’re in vast favour of a PMU but it can’t + won’t happen because the Chairman of the BHA owns shares in the enemy + because the government is selling the saviour of racing to Fred Done. British racing is finished. With the whip going as well, very soon there’ll be little point in giving a damn about it.
Not only is the prize money twice that of GB racing (€21.8k as opposed to €11.7k per race),but in 2008 the French also gave out €53.8m in breeders premiums, €33.6m in owners premiums and €10m in travelling allowances (whatever the hell that is?… I guess the help you pay for the petrol it takes to get to the racecourse?). So on top of the €383million in prizemoney they gave out that year, the total they gave back to racing came to €485m.
In the same year GB returned €113m, of which €111 was in prizemoney and €1.7m in breeders premiums.
In that year, the French bet a total of approx €9.5billion on a total of 17,838 races (the majority, over 60%, of all races in France are Trotting races). That works out to an average of about €530k per race.
The Brits bet a little over €11billion on almost half as many races, 9628 between jumps and flat. That’s an average of €1.14m bet per race.So the French bet less than half as much, yet their races are worth twice as much (plus tens of millions in owners and breeders premiums thrown in for good measure).
For comparison, here are average prizemoney and number of races for major racing nations in 2008, except Aus which is 2006.
USA[
———-, Avg Prize ———-, No. of races
Flat ———-, €13,990 ———-, 49951
Jumping ———-, €22,170 ———-, 168
Trotting ———-, €5,890 ———-, 54264
GENERAL AVERAGE/Total races ———-, €9,790 ———-, 104383Japan
———-, Avg Prize ———-, No. of races
Flat ———-, €36,610 ———-, 17612
Jumping ———-, €197,860 ———-, 132
Trotting ———-, €0 ———-, 0
GENERAL AVERAGE/Total races ———-, €37,810 ———-, 17744Ireland
———-, Avg Prize ———-, No. of races
Flat ———-, €31,100 ———-, 1020
Jumping ———-, €20,000 ———-, 1434
Trotting ———-, €0 ———-, 0
GENERAL AVERAGE/Total races ———-, €24,610 ———-, 2454Hong Kong
———-, Avg Prize ———-, No. of races
Flat ———-, €96,180 ———-, 735
Jumping ———-, €0 ———-, 0
Trotting ———-, €0 ———-, 0
GENERAL AVERAGE/Total races ———-, €96,180 ———-, 735Australia (2006)
———-, Avg Prize ———-, No. of races
Flat ———-, €11,020 ———-, 19821
Jumping ———-, €16,830 ———-, 142
Trotting ———-, €3,440 ———-, 15666
GENERAL AVERAGE/Total races ———-, €7,710 ———-, 35629France
———-, Avg Prize ———-, No. of races
Flat ———-, €22,908 ———-, 4660
Jumping ———-, €28,250 ———-, 2194
Trotting ———-, €19,600 ———-, 10984
GENERAL AVERAGE/Total races ———-, €21,510 ———-, 17838GB
———-, Avg Prize ———-, No. of races
Flat ———-, € 11,760 ———-, 6128
Jumping ———-, €11,700 ———-, 3366
Trotting ———-, €0 ———-, 0
GENERAL AVERAGE/Total races ———-, €11,740 ———-, 9494UAE[
———-, Avg Prize ———-, No. of races
Flat ———-, €96,542 ———-, 308
Jumping ———-, €0 ———-, 0
Trotting ———-, €0 ———-, 0
GENERAL AVERAGE ———-, €96,542 ———-, 308NZ
———-, Avg Prize ———-, No. of races
Flat ———-, €7,570 ———-, 2970
Jumping ———-, €5,730 ———-, 129
Trotting ———-, €5,120 ———-, 2768
GENERAL AVERAGE ———-, €6,370 ———-, 5867The Vintner, a PMU solves all the problems that exist in British racing. Ante-post betting can still exist through current bookmakers. Prize-money is drastically increased which eliminates the need for stable gambles to pay for training fees, therefore corruption is effectively eliminated. Owners, trainers and jockeys get a better wage, as do stable staff. Entry to racecourses is far cheaper (if not free as Longchamp is on most days) which attracts more people to come racing. More prize money means better horses on show – imagine Royal Ascot with a decent standard of money on offer rather than the pittance they currently offer (in comparison with other races here and also Internationally).
The whole set-up here is just a disgrace.
If the cheap admission at Longchamp is such a powerful crowd attraction, how come there’s never anybody there except on two or three days each year?
AP
If the cheap admission at Longchamp is such a powerful crowd attraction, how come there’s never anybody there except on two or three days each year?
Because by and large the French are not huge fans of racing.
The Brits and Irish are.Even with the fact the French don’t have the same interest in racing, and bet half as much, they still manage to be able to provide healthy prize money because of their system. 8% of every euro bet on a race in France goes back to racing. The two are directly tied.
So the prize money is better, it’s cheaper to get in & yet none of the country give two hoots?
Yeah, that’s much better.
So the prize money is better, it’s cheaper to get in & yet none of the country give two hoots?
Yeah, that’s much better.
You seem to be suggesting there is a correlation?
So because they have cheaper admission, and better prize money, that that is the reason less people are interested in racing???? That’s interesting take on things.
By your logic then one should increase the price of a ticket to Wed meeting at Plumpton to 85 quid a head, and have the horses racing for bragging rights, and thousands will flock.It’s quite bizarre how people will spin things sometimes.
Not at all. Better prize money & cheap entry are good things.
Holding a country where few people are interested as an example to a country where substantially more people are interested, is not.
Not at all. Better prize money & cheap entry are good things.
Holding a country where few people are interested as an example to a country where substantially more people are interested, is not.
But if a system works well in a country where racing is
less
popular than here, then it’s likely to be even more effective in a country where it’s
more
popular.
While it’s true that only the Arc and D’Amerique days attract really jumbo-sized crowds, I don’t think French people are staying away because they can’t take a price.
The French are just basically less interested in spectator sports than the British. I was on holidsy in Finisterre during the World Cup when it was held in France, and if you didn’t read the papers you’d hardly have noticed it was on.
If the cheap admission at Longchamp is such a powerful crowd attraction, how come there’s never anybody there except on two or three days each year?
AP
Because France is several times bigger than the UK, has high public transport costs and ridiculous motorway tolls?
If the cheap admission at Longchamp is such a powerful crowd attraction, how come there’s never anybody there except on two or three days each year?
AP
Because France is several times bigger than the UK, has high public transport costs and ridiculous motorway tolls?
I didn’t know France had high public transport costs. I’ll quote you next time I arguing with someone about rail fares here!
Paris to Lyon on the 9th May, returning on the 10th for an adult; ranges from £123 to £143. Ridiculous to travel from the capital to the 2nd biggest city in France.
You can get from Kings Cross to Edinburgh and back for £10 cheaper than the cheapest option from Paris to Lyon.
Bit of a skewed comparison really, travelling on the TGV in France to travelling on whatever we’ve got over here (can’t be that fast if Frankel overtook one of them…), but still, shows the difference. Paris Metro prices were very good a couple of years ago but they increased about 18 months back.
And Calais to Lyon costs €90 in motorway tolls.
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Because France is several times bigger than the UK, has high public transport costs and ridiculous motorway tolls?
I didn’t know France had high public transport costs. I’ll quote you next time I arguing with someone about rail fares here!
It does not, compared against UK (c.f. Paris Metro v. London Underground, or TGV express rail travel v. Virgin Pendolino) so Zarkava is absolutely
not
on the money here!
Hi All. Sorry for going a little off topic here but I thought someone on this thread might be able to settle a puzzler for me.
Does anyone know the reason that French Courses have a 14:08 race (as opposed to 14:05 or 14:10)?
This has been the cause of much discussion in the office and I really hope I can find a resolution soon!
Many Thanks!
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