France Galop president Guillaume de Saint-Seine has issued a call to arms to the French racing and breeding industry, asking for its backing to “build a new model, simpler, more efficient, more sustainable”. The changes are expected to be implemented by January 2027.
Delivered in a personal letter to stakeholders under the title 'Change. Now. Together.', Saint-Seine said, “There comes a time when we must speak plainly: we can no longer continue on the trajectory of the last twenty years. Our historical resources are shrinking, calling for the creation of new revenue streams. Our competitive environment is being disrupted and demands greater responsiveness. And this is happening within a societal context that is also evolving very rapidly, requiring constant adaptation.”
A newly-formed task force described as an “intentionally agile group composed of five experienced professionals from the industry and the corporate world” will make its initial recommendations to the board of France Galop by mid-May. Saint-Seine, who assumed the role of president in December 2023, stated that the task force had been unanimously backed by the board and initiated without delay “because transformation is necessary – both in the short term and for the future”.
“The Task Force isn't just another think tank,” he continued. “We've seen those before. They all produced useful analyses, but rarely led to decisions and effective implementation. How can we explain these failures? Undoubtedly, a poor mix of cultural resistance (the infamous “we've always done it this way”) and fear of change. Undoubtedly also because the situation wasn't serious enough and the sense of urgency wasn't strong enough. Today, the urgency is very real.”
In May 2025 it was announced that prize-money in France would be cut by €20 million annually from July of last year, meaning a 6.9 per cent reduction in purses across French racing, bar Group 1 contests, in 2026. This was largely owing to a fall in betting turnover on racing through France's Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU).
Saint-Seine added, “This is a collective effort. This involves the management of France Galop, its staff, its governing bodies, and all of you who keep horse racing alive in our country. The Task Force does not replace the teams at the parent company. It relies on them. It trusts them. And it will be by their side to support the decisions made, making them concrete and applicable. The members of the Task Force will also be present to support their implementation. I want to acknowledge their commitment and thank them for dedicating their time, on a voluntary basis, to the effort of reinventing our model.
“The statutory bodies will, of course, be consulted within their areas of expertise. Nothing will be done without consultation. But nothing must remain stagnant. The time of long years of observation is behind us. Together, we will write a new chapter in the long history of French horse racing.”
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