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Summary of our market study
The French racehorse market is estimated at 10,000 horses.
The French racehorse market represents only a fraction of all horse purchases. 13% of horse transactions are destined for racing, while 8% of these racehorses are then used for sport-leisure-teaching.
Overall demand for horses is stable and balanced between trotters and gallopers.
The global market for racehorses is estimated at 3.2 billion euros in 2023, compared with 3.4 billion in 2022. France retains a strong worldwide presence in show jumping, flat racing and trotting.
The average auction price of racehorses also varies significantly between trotters (€14,000) and gallopers (€43,000)
Betting on racehorses is the industry's main source of income (between €8 and €9 billion).
France is a major exporter of horses, mainly trotters and gallopers.
Trainers and amateur owners are key players, accounting for the majority of racehorse purchases. A large proportion of buyers do not see racehorses before buying them.
Players in the racehorse market
breeding and production
The breeding segment is dominated by numerous breeders who produce both trotters and gallopers. France, the world's leading producer of trotters, is home to a large number of these breeders. The galloping sector includes players such as the famous Haras d'Étreham in Calvados, known for breeding high-potential English thoroughbred yearlings that fetch impressive prices at auction.
The auction market
The world's top auctions are held at Deauville in France, Keeneland in the United States, Kildare in Ireland and Newmarket in Great Britain, with prices frequently ranging from a few hundred thousand euros to several million euros.
Arqana is one of the world's leading auctioneers of racehorses
Racing institutions
France Galop and Le Trot are the two main racing institutions in France, structuring and organizing the French equestrian landscape.
Betting and wagering
At the heart of horseracing betting, PMU (Paris Mutuel Urbain) is the leader, concentrating most of the stakes.
Other licensed online betting operators include Betclic, France Pari, Genybet, Joabet, SPS Betting France and Zeturf.
Animal welfare
In the midst of all the commercial activity, organizations like Jump Ethique and initiatives like RaceandCare are emerging as the guardians of equine welfare. These advocacy groups and initiatives help promote responsible horse racing practices and ensure that the industry meets high animal welfare standards.
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Definition and scope of study
There are two categories of racehorses. Horses for gallop races, where thoroughbreds and AQPS (other than thoroughbreds) are distinguished, and trotting horses for eponymous races, where the horses must give their highest speed without galloping.
The global market for racehorses is estimated at several tens of billions of dollars. This global sales figure is largely shared by a handful of countries. In Europe, the market is driven by France and Great Britain, in America by the USA and Canada, and in Asia by Japan and Hong Kong. Australia is also a major global player.
The French racehorse market, valued at several billion euros, can be divided into 4 activities: breeding, trading, boarding, and the organization of races and associated betting. It is this last activity that generates most of the industry's sales. The horse betting business, which is largely dominated by the PMU (Pari Mutuel Urbain), is therefore of prime importance to the industry, especially as half of the levies on horse betting are paid back to the other players in the industry (the PMU and the PMU, for example). to other players in the industry (associations such as France Galop and Trot, which in turn distribute part of this money to breeders, owners, trainers, jockeys, etc.). As for the racehorse trade, where the flagship event in France is the Deauville auction, two major players concentrate most of the activity: ARQANA and Osarus.
1.2 A fast-growing global market
Equine market:
According to theEquine Business Association, the global market size for the entire equine industry stood at *** billion USD in ****. The market is driven by Europe with **% market share (***).
Global equine industry market size World, ****, in billions of USD Source: ****
According to the same source, the market is expected to ...
1.3 Domestic market
The racehorse industry is characterized by * main economic activities: breeding, trading, pensions and betting. The graph below shows the total market size (***) and each of the sales figures for the different activities making up the racehorse industry.
This market size for the racehorse industry stands at *.*** billion euros in ****, at the ...
1.4 A large trade surplus for racehorses
In all, *,*** equines were imported and **,*** exported in ****. The equine trade balance is therefore broadly positive, with a balance of +**,*** animals, i.e. a coverage rate (***) of *.**.
For racehorses, gallopers and trotters, there is also a large surplus:
For gallopers, which represent **% and **.*% respectively of total equine imports and exports, and ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 Demand for racehorses
The vast majority of horses (***). The category of horses purchased for racing use comes in a distant second, accounting for **% of transactions. However, *% of horse purchases are racehorses, but bought for sport-leisure-teaching use, bringing the number of racehorse exchanges to **%. A further *% of equidae are not intended for any purpose, and ...
2.2 Profile of horses purchased
The majority (***).
Distribution of racehorse purchases by breed France, ****, in Source: ****
Horses intended for racing are bought on average at *.* years of age for gallopers, and *.* years for trotters. At least **% of gallopers and **% of trotters are purchased at the age of two or less. These purchases of very young horses ...
2.3 Profile of racehorse buyers
Future buyers of racehorses have several ways of finding them. The main one is spotting at gatherings (***). Classified ads accounted for only *% of scouts. These proportions show the importance of the network in racehorse transactions.
Breakdown of racehorse purchases by search method France, ****, in Source: ****
More than * out of ** racehorses are ...
2.4 Racing and betting: major determinants of demand
Horse betting is the racehorse industry's main financial resource (***). In fact, horse betting and associated racing are the two major determinants of the racehorse market.
Racing :
The total number of horse races has been stable overall in recent years (***) due to the cancellation of several races because of the health crisis ...
3 Market structure
3.1 Value chain
Below is a simplified value chain for the racehorse industry. Each link in this value chain is detailed in other parts of the study:
Breeding: see *.* Trading: see parts * and *.* Racing: see *.* and *.* Horse betting: see *.* and *.*
Source: ****
3.2 Production: racehorse breeding
The graph below shows the number of French breeders of mares covered by racehorses. The number of breeders is higher for trotting horses than for galloping horses. In both categories, the number of breeders will fall between **** and ****, by **% for trotter breeders and *% for galloper breeders.
Number of racehorse breeders France, ...
3.3 Horse racing
There are *** active racing companies in France. In ****, they organized *,*** "meetings" (***).
Geographical distribution of racecourses (***)
Source: ****
The two maps above show the distribution of racecourses (***). Normandy and Pays de la Loire together account for **% of racecourses. These two regions also organize the most meetings. it should be noted that Île-de-France, which ...
3.4 Horse betting, a key industry activity
The main player in horse betting is the PMU (***): Betclic Enterprises Limited, France Pari, Genybet, Joabet, PMU, SPS Betting France Limited, Zeturf France Limited.
Racecourse betting accounted for just *.*% of value bets in ****. This proportion was impacted by the health crisis, which prevented the public from visiting racecourses for several months. ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1 Adding value to racehorses
There are three ways of selling racehorses:
Auctions Claiming races Non-auction sales and claiming races
Horses are classified into * categories at sales:
Foal: thoroughbred colt less than a year old Yearling: thoroughbred foal in its second year Horses in training over * years old Mares and fillies (***) Broodmares, stallions and stallion shares: ...
4.2 Supply trends
Soaring prices for gallopers at auction
As we saw in the previous section, the average sale price for galloping horses in all categories was **,*** euros, and **,*** euros for yearling gallopers (***). It's in this category that prices tend to soar, for "selection" yearlings, rigorously chosen for their origins and aptitudes, and considered ...
5 Regulations
5. Horse betting regulations
Until ****, the PMU (***) was the only authorized operator for horse betting in France, either physically or virtually. in ****, however, Parliament passed Act no. ****-*** on the opening up to competition and regulation of the online gambling sector. This opening up of the market concerns only "the scope of games subject to ...
6 Positioning the players
6. Segmentation
- PMU Pari Mutuel Urbain
- Betclic Group
- France Galop
- ARQANA
- Equidia
- Arquana
- Eqwin
List of charts presented in this market study
- Number of racehorse purchases: gallopers and trotters
- Breakdown of horse purchases by use
- Breakdown of racehorse purchases by breed
- Distribution of racehorses purchased by activity prior to purchase
- Breakdown of racehorse purchases by previous owner
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Latest news
"Bistrot à la française": the PMU concept to widen the circle of bettors - 27/03/2024
- - Objective to strengthen PMU's presence in city centers.
- - Strategic plan to recruit one million new players in three years, presented at the end of 2022.
- - 150 urban mutual betting establishments planned by 2027, in towns with more than 50,000 inhabitants.
- - Investment of 40 million euros to modernize physical facilities.
- - 85% of bets are placed at the point of sale.
France Galop aims to revive horse racing. - 27/03/2024
- - Increase in the number of racehorse owners: +600 over the last three years to 5,800.
- - Number of spectators at France Galop's five racecourses: 400,000 last year, up 6%.
- - PMU sales: 10 billion euros, of which 7 billion generated by horse betting.
- - Number of PMU points: 14,000.
- - Economic sector: 10,000 direct jobs in the gallop racing industry, 233 racecourses in France, compared with 55 in the UK.
ParisLongchamp, increasingly popular with professionals and the cultural world - 20/02/2024
- - The venue hosted the Solidays festival with 260,000 spectators.
- - The French leg of the American festival Lollapalooza drew 170,000 fans over 3 days.
- - The site's lawn can accommodate over 80,000 people.
- - In 2023, the racecourse was open to the public for 164 days.
- - ParisLongchamp organizes 27 race days a year.
- - In 2023, company-initiated events generated a record 326 operating days, up 17% on 2022.
- - Paris-Longchamp alone accounted for 58% of the 564 non-racing event days organized at France Galop's five racecourses.
- - The 2023 season attracted 160,600 spectators on race days.
- - Pre-sales on the new France Galop Live ticketing site accounted for 87% of admissions.
- - For 2024, the outlook for bookings of racecourse facilities in the first half of the year is very encouraging.
PMU reverses negative trend in horse betting - 08/02/2024
- - PMU achieved revenues of 10.007 billion euros in 2023
- - The volume of horse stakes rose by 2% to 9.3 billion euros, reaching its highest level since 2013.
- - The point-of-sale network recorded an increase in stakes of over 1%, to 6.9 billion euros.
- - Internet betting increased by 5%.
- - International stakes rose by 2% to 1.5 billion euros.
- - PMU to open around 1,000 new sales outlets by 2023
- - PMU recently opened its 14,000th point of sale.
- - PMU's net profit for 2023, which will be paid in full to the horse racing industry, is 835 million euros.
- - Internet sports betting and poker generated €650 million in stakes in 2023.
Olivier Delloye at Arqana - 23/09/2023
- Arqana, the racehorse auction house, was created in 2006.
- The Aga Khan and the Dassault family are shareholders in Arqana.
- Racehorse auctions jumped 24% in 2022.
- Since 2016, a good half of Arqana's workforce (50 people) has been renewed.
- Arqana has become France's leading racehorse auction house and number two in Europe.
- Arqana has developed the Australian and Japanese markets.
Racehorses: Deauville sales go from strength to strength - 20/08/2023
- 300 yearlings will be auctioned on August 18, 19 and 20.
- These sales have been held in Deauville since 1887.
- It is the leading thoroughbred market in France and the second largest in Europe.
- Majority owned by the Aga Khan IV, Arqana is backed by a consortium of French breeders (25%) and Artcurial (25%).
- Global sales of galloping horses have reached $3.4 billion in 2022, up from $2.7 billion in 2021 and $2.5 billion in 2019.
- Arqana has become the 6th largest auction house in France, with sales of 226 million euros in 2022
- Out of 4,500 horses presented in 2022, Arqana sold 4,300.
- Online auctions rose by 22% to 12 million euros.
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