the horse racing industry shows its anger in the streets of Paris

Professionals from the horse industry came from all over France to demonstrate in Paris on Thursday afternoon. They are protesting against a plan to tax horse racing betting, all of the day's races having been canceled to allow them to take part in the movement.

For once, he's not on the racetrack. Norman jockey Nicolas Raimbeaux, blue and yellow jacket on his shoulders, walks like thousands of people behind two horses to defend his threatened profession. “I was born in thereexplains Nicolas Raimbaux. I've been doing this my whole life. What else are we going to do? We like that. In addition, we are not going to find ourselves doing a job that we do not like, so it is truly a job of passion. I don’t know what I would do.”

The increase in taxes on horse racing betting worries the jockey. A government amendment to the draft Social Security budget plans in particular to increase the tax on gross revenue from horse racing betting games, from 6.9% to 7.5% in the physical network (PMU, racetracks) and to 6.9% to 15% for online betting.

The sector estimates at “35 million euros per year” this increase in taxation, knowing that the PMU already pays nearly a billion euros in tax to the State per year. For jockey Nicolas Raimbaux, this reminds him of what happened in neighboring countries: “In Italy, they had a beautiful system which died. In the Netherlands too. We saw this in all the neighboring countries. So we try to defend what we can defend. We are the country in the world, not the more respected, but the best organized Everyone envies us, so we have to be able to defend that.”

In other countries, the racehorse industry is financed by public aid, unlike the French system which is based on horse racing betting. The PMU pays 600 million euros per year to breeders and trainers. There are 40,000 people who live directly and indirectly from it. The increase mentioned risks breaking everything according to Loïc Malivet, president of the gallop breeders' association, himself a breeder in the West: “From the moment we have additional taxation, trainers will make choices in training. So their model will be called into question and by losing owners, they lose revenue. Breeders, from the moment where we lose owners and trainers, we will have fewer buyers to come and buy our foals from breeding. The whole industry will collapse.”

It is also impossible to impose this increase on the three million French bettors because the sector has been too competitive since the online betting law of 2010. “We made projectionsexplains Thibault Lamarre, breeder in Calvados and spokesperson for the sector. We know very well that in three years – the product has deteriorated so much – we would lose so many players that the State would receive less with this 'surcharge' than it currently receives. The player's interest is his chance of winning. If we attack that, the game is no longer worth the candle.”

The government's latest statements point towards abandoning this tax increase, but that is not enough to reassure the demonstrators who are waiting for a clear and clear position from the Prime Minister in their favor.