Titleholder, Do Deuce, Deep Bond et Stay Foolishfour Japanese competitors who raised the stakes in the 2022 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. “100 million bets had been played, half of which were in Japan, adding the common pool and the separate pool. It had been an exceptional amount,” remembers Aymeric Verlet, who has 18 years of experience as International Director of PMU. A colossal sum that can only be seen as a separate mass when the “planets” are aligned: “In Japan, the conditions are drastic to authorize betting on international events. It must be a Group I race which is part of the FIAH Top 100 (International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities)and that there is a Japanese starter.” World race organizers are therefore competing fiercely to try to attract Japanese competitors to their most prestigious events. This includes a top-notch welcome from owners and attractive allowances that are worth moving horses. Every effort is also being made at the PMU to keep Japanese racers better informed by sending information, data and images. How high will the stakes be in 2024 with one of the favorites Shin Emperor and Yutaka Take in the saddle on Al Riffa? In 2023, all masses combined, the PMU had recorded €80 million, including €19 million for Hong Kong-Japan, €15-16 million with bookmakers and €12 million in Africa. “Our two major showcases for selling French races internationally are obviously the Arc, which is marketed in all the countries where we have partners (see details on Paris-turf.com)and of course the Prix d’Amérique in January, especially for countries with a trotting vocation. To a lesser extent, there is the Grand Steeple-Chase of Paris, which is more difficult to “sell”, the major targets being the United Kingdom and Ireland.”
A very constructive partnership with Hong Kong
If the stakes are collected in a separate mass with Japan, on Sunday, they will be collected in a common mass in the Single Game with the other very large world operator, the Hong Kong Jockey-Club. “Our partnership is very constructive, poursuit Aymeric Verlet. Our next goal is to develop the Coupled also in common mass. The distribution of stakes between bets is different from France. There, the stakes in Single-Coupled and Trio weigh 80% of the total (it’s 63% in France). This takes time, because although technically the common masses are easier to set up, there remain regulatory subtleties on the games. For example, we do not have the same rate of Gross Gaming Product, the rules in the event of a non-starter diverge… In 2023, 2.8 billion euros were bet on the PMU, half in common pool and half other in separate mass. The international result (net margin) for ten years has been multiplied by three, this is indeed a growth driver for the PMU, even if we note that in countries with mature markets and historic horse racing traditions, games on races are declining almost everywhere. Hong Kong was a bit of an exception for years before experiencing a decline in its 2023-2024 season. The problem is the same: increasing the number of horse racing bettors in the face of formidable competition from sports betting and virtual games, which operate almost 24 hours a day.” The PMU also regularly collaborates on foreign races in the so-called World Pool which is managed and organized by Hong Kong. On the other hand, no French race is World Pool, because that would imply that French punters bet according to the rules laid down by Hong Kong. It is therefore the PMU which is in charge with its own global mass.
Mobilized in high potential markets
If Japan and Hong Kong are important, the PMU has developed other fruitful partnerships: “The UK has become our biggest market. Since 2018, we have been working with English bookmakers by being present in all stores, online, knowing that French races are broadcast on the Sky channel. There is also Australia, where there are very big players there and important bookmakers (Editor’s note: who cover their risks via other operators, including PMU). On the common ground, we continue to have developments on great partnerships in the United States (Churchill Downs) and Canada (Woodbine). Between 2010 and 2020, the PMU developed a strategy to extend the sale of French races to multiply the number of markets. This worked very well, but we realized that there were some markets where it wasn’t really worth spending too much time, energy and resources. In 2021, the strategy was reoriented towards high potential markets; for example, we have very little presence in Latin America.” And then, of course, there is a sea serpent, the whole of China: “Today, lotteries and sports betting are already authorized there, and one day it will be horse racing betting but we don’t know when. This will be effective when they are sure that public and social order will be respected with maximum constraints. In any case, they really like the French pari-mutuel betting model.”
What is common mass and separate mass?
When operators register stakes in separate mass on French races, this means that they themselves manage the collection of bets and the calculation of the dividends paid to their clients. As a common mass, foreign operators send their clients’ stakes to the PMU system which totals them and calculates the ratios, then instructs the first named to redistribute the winnings. PMU has two subsidiaries, “Eurotiercé, in Belgium which is not the market leader (it’s Ladbrokes) but which carries out 90% of online stakes. Germany is also a defensive position. The galloping racecourse association owns 49% of the German Tote and we work with them (51% for the PMU), this partnership having been established in 2015.” There was also a failure, at the end of the 2010s in Brazil, with the establishment of a subsidiary which did not work.
Bio Express d’Aymeric Verlet
– 57 ans
– Married, two children
– 21 years spent at PMU after working with the Pathé and Air France Groups
– He has been international director of PMU for 18 years, having started his duties during the 2006 Arc in which he was aligned Deep Impact
– 23 As the number of employees who work specifically in the PMU international unit at 100%.
Also read:
– Emmanuelle Malecaze-Doublet: “The PMU is no longer losing customers”
– New: the PMU is reinventing itself in city centers
– The PMU revises the net result downwards by 13 million euros
The question
The PMU removed the GPIs (Grands Parieurs Internationaux) from taking bets at Quinté+ at the end of July. Are you seeing a postponement of their bets on other bets or not?
“No, not really. France is the country that best supervises GPIs, we have even become a reference. Since they are limited on other bets, there is very limited carryover. This is going exactly as planned. Internationally, we also see that there are more quintés who are affected in the order (not by GPI), so it’s a good solution that was taken on this type of bet.”
The list of countries which will register bets on the Arc 2024
Common mass and separate mass:
AUSTRALIA
BELGIUM
HONG KONG
CONGO BRAZZA
CONGO KINSHASA
DENMARK
SPAIN
PAINTED
NORWAY
THE NETHERLANDS
SENEGAL
SUEDE
CHAD
UK
Common mass:
SOUTH AFRICA
GERMANY
AUSTRIA
BRAZZAVILLE
BRAZIL
CANADA
ESTONIA
FINLAND
HUNGARY
LUXEMBOURG
MONACO
DOM REPUBLIC
SUISSE
USA
Separate mass:
NEW ZEALAND
BURKINA
CHYPRE
IVORY COAST
GUINEA
INDE
IRELAND
ITALY
JAPAN
MALI
MOROCCO
NIGER
RDC
POLOGNE
SINGAPORE
SRI LANKA
Türkiye
