France Galop Announces Losses for Second Lockdown

France Galop's board of directors, the French horseracing regulatory body, has published a statement outlining the negative effect of lockdowns on horserace betting statistics in France.

As a consequence of the that COVID-19 cases in the region, France entered a new lockdown phase from the end of October.

Racing has been allowed to proceed throughout this second lockout period but the closing of non-essential shops has resulted in a reduction in the volumes wagered on the vertical.

French horseracing has "naturally suffered" from the latest lockdowns, counteracting demand growth since July, according to the group.

Horse racing turnover was up 15% year-on-year in July and August 2020, although in September this fell to 10% and then 1% in October.

Today, France Galop said the daily stakes are down between 20% and 30% compared with last year under lockdown conditions. Despite this, online growth has accelerated as compared with previous weeks.

The group expects that if the lockdowns continue until the end of December then there will be a deficit of about €30m ($35.6m) in horseracing operations – equivalent to €15m for each month of detention. Despite the governing body of horseracing has it's own strategy to prevent pandemic measures, if this is the case then France Galop predicts a net loss for the year would be reported.