More than 2,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Paris on Wednesday to raise concerns about falling revenue for the French racing industry and to lobby government to implement a long-term strategy to protect the sport's finances.
Organised by the Comité de Réaction des Jeunes Professionels de Filière Cheval (JPFC), representatives from the thoroughbred and trotting industries, which account for more than 180,000 workers in France, descended on the capital to gather in front of the finance ministry.
Chief on their list of concerns was a proposed live betting test, for which the government had agreed to let Française Des Jeux (FDJ), a state-owned lottery and sports betting operator, undertake in around 100 outlets in the country in direct competition to the PMU, which funds French racing. But, as the protest commenced, it was announced that the test, which had been organised to start in April, will not now take place.
French racing, which is the envy of many of its European neighbours with its high level of prize-money, lucrative owners' and breeders' premiums and travel incentives, still however faces a shortfall in funding in the coming years as betting on horseracing, which stood at €924 million in 2016, has dropped to less than half the take on general sports betting.
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