France Galop to end thoroughbred racing at 25 regional tracks
France Galop’s board has approved a revised regional plan that ends thoroughbred racing at 25 mixed racecourses.
The restructuring is part of a cost-cutting drive.
PMU contributions make up more than 90 per cent of France Galop’s resources, and the governing body forecasts a 2026 deficit of about €45 million after its PMU allocation was cut by about €60 million against the 2025 budget.
The plan also splits flat and jumps racing at mixed venues. Aix-les-Bains, Chateaubriant, Cholet, La Teste, Saint-Malo and Toulouse will race only on the flat, and Strasbourg and Vittel will follow progressively. Jarnac, Le Lion-d’Angers, Nancy, Nantes and Orléans will host only jumps racing.
The board softened the proposals first presented on September 10. Tarbes will keep thoroughbred racing after a campaign against its removal. Saint-Malo keeps the flat but loses jumps racing. Amiens has been dropped from the cessation list, and Jarnac and Orléans, both originally set to lose regional gallop racing, have been moved to jumps specialisation instead.
“This consultation process was indispensable to building a balanced reform,” France Galop president Guillaume de Saint-Seine said.
