The origin of racing goes back to the dawn of time when the chariot was the essential element. Ancient Greece is strongly influenced by this presence both in its mythology and in its history, where the Olympic Games were the occasion for the creation of racecourses in which quadrigas competed at full gallop. Rome took up this tradition by establishing strict rules for the races. However, the origins of modern racing lie in England and more particularly in the 18th century with the advent of the English thoroughbred breed of purebred oriental patriarchs. The success of English racing and the craze that it aroused crossed the Channel at the beginning of the 19th century where the challenges that private individuals threw at each other through horses led to the beginnings of what was to become a real economic sector: trotting races.
Trotting: A little history
In 1864, the Société du Cheval Français (French Horse Society) was founded in Caen, the birthplace of the French trotter, but the official birth of trotting races is traditionally dated back to 1836 on the shores of Cherbourg, where a young stud officer, Ephrem Hoüel, succeeded in organizing the first showdown between half-blood horses. It should be emphasized that the half-blood was a service horse useful to the national economy which, when trotting, ensured the traction of military equipment. He had to combine resistance, strength, and speed. The French Trotter was originally a cross between English Thoroughbreds from the Norfolk region and Norman mares.
After the threats that the Second Empire put on the Administration of the Haras and which almost made trotting races disappear, the young parent company managed to establish its authority and to encourage the development of its races, in Normandy, in Brittany, and then a little everywhere in France.
In 1878, the growth of trotting and the benevolent support of Gambetta enabled the Half-Blood Society to set up in Paris and organize races at the Plateau de Gravelle racecourse in the Bois de Vincennes. The popular craze was such that to develop its activity, the Société du Cheval Français (French Horse Society) had no other possibility than to occupy, in the Parisian calendar, the only period left vacant by the gallop societies: the winter.
In 1905, the winter meeting was born on the initiative of Philippe du Rozier. Henceforth, trotters had the right to be present and the program of their races became more important. The biggest harnessed trotting race, the Price of America, was created in 1920 and endowed with 20,000 gold francs.
Under the presidency of Mr. René Ballière, from 1935 to 1970, trotting continued to grow in importance, with the development of the winter meeting, the reconstruction of the Vincennes racecourse, the creation of evening races in 1952, and the acquisition of the Grosbois Domain in 1962.
In 1970, Viscount Guillaume de Bellaigue succeeded Mr. Ballière as president of the company. Mr. Albert Viel took over from 1974 to 1985. Count Pierre de Montesson held this position from 1986 to 1994 before Mr. Paul Essartial succeeded him, and at the end of 1997, Mr. Dominique de Bellaigue, current president of the “Cheval Français”, took over.
During these last years, trotting has increased its audience, its popularity, and its economic position. From being a poor and often neglected relative within the racing institution, it has moved to the forefront in every area and is indisputably the leader in French racing. Its popular origins, its easy accessibility, the robustness of the breed, the longevity of the horses, the artisanal and rural character of the discipline, the enormous courage and dynamism of the profession are undoubtedly all elements that explain the success of trotting. This importance of the specialty should be seen in terms of figures.
Trotting in figures
In 2000, 10,000 trotting races were organized by 249 companies. They were aimed at the 15,000 horses declared to be in training or, more precisely, if we exclude unqualified horses, at the 13,500 trotters who ran last year and who in total represented 136,000 participants, i.e., an average of 10 races per horse.
The French Trotter population is estimated at more than 80,000 head, including 17,000 broodmares, 630 stallions and 10,600 births per year. This last figure may still seem too high since the racing circuit can only reasonably absorb 3500 to 3800 qualified trotters per generation. Measures have therefore been considered, both to directly reduce the number of births but also to limit access to competition to control the economic situation of this sector. To be able to compete, trotters must be qualified, i.e., they must achieve a minimum time of 1500 meters and 2000 meters respectively at the age of 2 and 3. This is an important sorting process and allows to keep about 4000 horses per generation that can take part in races.
The allocations distributed in trotting races organized in 2000 in the Paris region amounted to 380 MF, and 520 MF in the provinces.
Fifteen years ago, Parisian races received 55% of the allowances and those in the provinces 45%. Today, this trend is reversed, as the proportion is currently 58% for provincial races and 42% in Paris. However, one must be careful not to go too far in enhancing the value of provincial races to the detriment of the Parisian program, which must remain attractive since, on the one hand, it is this program that operates the institution’s “financial pump” and, on the other hand, with its 1,500 races, it must represent the high point of the selection process.
The volume of bets registered on trotting races (almost 19 billion francs in 2000) has increased steadily over the last few years compared to the total stakes in France (37 billion francs), which can be explained by the great popularity of trotting, the satisfactory number of starters and the understandable choice of the companies to retain mostly trotting races as the medium for gambling races.
Thus, this negligible quantity, which was the trotting specialty fifty years ago, has become the leading horse racing discipline and now accounts for 60% of the races, 68% of the starters and 60% of the men. Trotting, thanks to its men – these hard-working craftsmen who are often owners, breeders, trainers, drivers and even lads at the same time – is an agricultural activity, a national activity which brings added value to our countryside, and which increasingly allows us to maintain employment and farms in rural areas.
The supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture is satisfactorily exercised on the racing sector, through the Sub-Directorate of the horse for the regulatory field and the E.P.A., “the National stud farms” for the calibration.
Another supervision is imposed at the economic level by the State control and the Direction of the budget. Here again, since the decree of May 5, 1997, which regulates racing companies and the Pari Mutuel Urbain (Urban Mutual Betting), a real partnership has been created between the racing institution and the State. The latter is directly concerned with the financial equilibrium of the parent companies, which are perfectly fulfilling their role as providers of funds for the general budget of the Nation. The G.I.E.-PM.U. board of directors is composed of half representatives of the racing companies and half representatives of the State.
Finally, the Ministry of the Interior also exercises direct supervision over racing by providing an opinion on any candidate for a license.
Trotting races and the Paris-Vincennes racetrack
Granted to the Société du Cheval Français by the city of Paris since 1879, the Vincennes racecourse, whose lease was renewed in 1975 for fifty years, covers an area of 42 hectares in the Bois de Vincennes. It was entirely modernized and enlarged between 1978 and 1983.
A new series of transformations was carried out in 1993 with the enlargement of the sheltered stands and the complete renovation of the track.
Every year, 155 meetings are held there, 90 during the day and 65 in the evening, which is the most important activity of a racetrack in Europe.
While Vincennes’ peak season is in the winter, from mid-December to early March, a small summer meeting is held from mid-August to the end of September, and night meetings are held every Tuesday and Friday from mid-March to mid-December. A total of 1,250 races are held each year, culminating in the Price of America, a world championship for trotters with a prize money of 5 million francs in 2001, preceded by the Price of Comulier for mounted trotters, a French specialty, followed by the Prix de France two weeks later and the Prix de Paris eight days later. For the past few years, the beginning of the winter meeting has been marked by the closing of the Grand National du Trot, a circuit of 14 stages run on the major racecourses in France and a true “Tour de France” of trotters.
Vincennes is a selection racecourse because of its races, the quality of the competitors who compete there and its tracks. The large 2,000-meter track, with its famous downhill run and its formidable uphill run, even if its profile has become more regular, has forged a breed of solid, resistant, well-built trotters who possess both stamina and speed. The small 1,325-meter track, lit since 1952, allows more emphasis to be placed on the sprinting qualities of the trotters.
The legend of Vincennes is made up of the history of the great champions who have signed their names on the list of winners of classic races. We must mention, and this is a subjective choice, Uranie, winner of three Price of America, as well as Roquépine, Bellino II, Idéal du Gazeau and Ourasi, 4 times winner of this greatest event in the world, but also Fandango, winner of 38 consecutive races, Jamin, crowned World Champion in the United States, Gélinotte, Masina, Ozo, Une de Mai or the last winners Ténor de Baune, Général du Pommeau, etc.
Obviously, if a non-punter is asked to name a racehorse, it is very likely that it will be a trotter because the popularity of these horses, their longevity, their presence make them real stars in the media and in the hearts of spectators.
This stardom is undoubtedly a primordial element in the promotion of the races, but it cannot do everything and one of the priorities that the president of the S.E.C.E. has set for himself is to improve the welcome, the comfort, the animation, the environment of the racecourse.
Thus, different catering units have been created for different audiences. At the same time, the decor of the racecourse has been modified with the aim of brightening up the enclosures, making them pleasant, comfortable, and lively. A video control room allows to animate all the meetings on a giant screen of 118 m2 located in front of the stands and to ensure retransmissions on the indoor television circuit.
The racecourse in activity is a real factory with an attendance varying between 5 000 people in the evening and 35 000 people for the Price of America. Between 800 and 1,500 employees, depending on the importance of the day, work hard to ensure the success of a show offered by approximately 150 horses at each meeting with their drivers, trainers, owners, and lads.
The Grosbois training center
The success of the Vincennes races is only possible thanks to a large pool of horses stationed nearby, i.e., 15 km away, in Boissy-Saint-Léger where the Société du Cheval Français acquired the Grosbois Estate in 1962. This 410-hectare property with a Louis XIII castle, which is a heavy financial burden for the Society but which was the sine qua non condition for the creation of this center, groups together about fifty establishments and a total of 1500 boxes which, both in winter when traffic conditions are bad and for evening races, allow for a sufficient contingent of trotters to ensure the functioning of Parisian races.
With its social center, its 3 tracks, its riding school, its covered track, its clinic, its 20 km of bridle paths, its sports fields, its social housing, the Grosbois center is an efficient instrument that welcomes 1000 people at its peak.
Trotting and Europe
For the future, it seems essential to consolidate the position of French trotting abroad. In 1973, the “European Trotting Union” was founded with the main leaders of trotting races in Germany, Italy, and Scandinavia. It currently includes 14 countries and is a real force for defending trotting throughout Europe, by protecting it from the introduction of pacers. The completion of the single market within the European Union must be considered as an opportunity for French trotting breeding, which has a strong surplus of births compared to the number of horses needed for races in France, and which benefits from a good image abroad thanks to the many titles won in the United States and in major European events. It is essential, from this point of view, that the French trotter breed be preserved because it represents a specific genetic heritage whose conservation must be ensured. Moreover, it is advisable to reserve a good number of races for the products of this breeding even if its production must be carried out without discrimination in all the countries of the Union. The French trotter studbook has been closed since 1937, which has made it possible to establish a specific breed which, together with the American breed and the Orloff trotter, constitute the three strains from which all trotters registered in most foreign studbooks are derived. If experiments with the introduction of American blood are periodically made, they are sufficiently limited to have an improving effect without risking the loss of the characteristics of a standard which has shown its qualities over the last decades.
The French racing system, thanks to its organization on a national scale, thanks to the distribution of money between the bettors and the profession, thanks also to the dynamism of all those concerned, is remarkable and has all the ingredients to ensure the best possible performance of its mission towards the State and towards the socio-professional sector for which it is responsible. However, nothing is ever won definitively, and success is something that is built every day.
The “trotting” business, which, out of the 120,000 people involved in racing in general, provides a living for 70,000, has taken on an essential role within the institution and the increase in the number of allowances distributed in this specialty over the last fifteen years makes it a sector with a future.
Trotting races: a passion
Philippe Noiret, the unforgettable Ripou in Claude Zidi’s film, conveys the usual negative image, albeit admirably comical, of the inveterate gambler, ready to make all kinds of dubious arrangements to satisfy his passion for gambling.
However, this image is curiously reversed as soon as the gambler’s dream is extended to the real engine of passion, the trotter. The sad daily reality is then transcended into an ideal of beauty and love through the contact with this horse, which, at the end of the film, is the instrument of migration from a sticky and prison world to the bright kingdom of real life.
It is this passion for trotting which, from the sandy beaches of Cherbourg in 1836 to the asphalt of Vincennes at the beginning of the third millennium, has led thousands of men to devote all their efforts with self-sacrifice, enthusiasm, and dynamism to the realization of a professional ideal entirely devoted to the horse.
We will never be able to explain so many hardships, sufferings but also satisfactions and joys without the presence of this demanding but so endearing companion that is the Trotter.
If the tens of thousands of people who make a living from trotting races in France accept most of the time not to receive the remuneration corresponding to their personal or financial investment, it is because beyond the economic interest, the motive of their action is the passion, that of the French Trotter.
To find out more: the different events
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