Vincennes action; big announcement from the PMU

The Friday (March 29) sundown harness racing program at the Hippodrome Paris Vincennes featured two classy events.

First, the Prix Penthesilea (purse 70,000€, Gr. III racing 2700 meters, 11 European three-year old males) saw 2,3/1 odds Frank Gio (3m Face Time Bourbon-Zarino Gio) score down the middle timed in 1.14.7kr. Matthieu Abrivard teamed the Sebastien Guarato trainee for Scuderia Bivans Srl to his first victory in France in two starts. The win advanced his career earnings to 46,940€.

Largo de Castelle (3m Golden Bridge-Etoile de Castelle) was second with Benjamin Rochard driving for Ecurie Dragon Trotters BV and trainer Ilona Klappe. Third was 7/1 Leonardo Roc (3m Django Riff-Unfaithfully) that Gabriele Gelormini reined for SS Eusebio Snc and trainer Vitale Ciotola.

In the Prix Amalthea (purse 68,000€, 2750 meters, 16 European starters ages 7-11) the 1.12.9kr timed winner was 10/1 Gardner Shaw (8g Ready Cash-Bloom Boko) owned by Jerome Larouet, trained by Yannick Henry and reined by Francois Lagadeuc. Gardner now has six wins in 23 appearances for 311,219€ earned.

Sahara Jaeburn (7m Ready Cash-El Angelic) was second at 4.7/1 odds driven by Yoann Lebourgeois, trainer Dominik Locqueneux and owner Petra Huhti. Here We Go (7m Royal Dream-Vendetta des Joudes) landed third at 3.4/1 odds for Julien Dubois, the owner/trainer/driver of this Jean Philippe Dubois bred veteran.

Big announcement from the PMU

Yesterday the PMU (Pari Mutuels Urbain) made a big announcement for a large format bistro/betting/video concept that opened first in Bordeaux. 150 locations are planned by 2027. Below is a translated summary of the PMU initiative that inaugurated a betting bistro concept for center city locations aimed to change the PMU point of sale image.

“The “Pari Tourny” is located in the heart of the Gironde city. A stone’s throw from the Place des Quinconces and no further from the Saint-Pierre district. This former restaurant overlooking a busy avenue displays the colour in the window: the green of the PMU (slightly denser than the one known so far), elegant visible furniture and inscriptions “Les Paris Mutuels Urbains – Proposed by the PMU”, all annotated with a “since 1930” to inscribe the brand in tradition and experience. And certainly, A detail? Certainly not. Everything is indeed built in reaction to the practice of online betting. Here you can share with your friends or the boss, or both, you can enjoy horse betting in comfortable conditions and have a good time. In any case, this is the objective, and everything has been designed to achieve it.

Establishments to reconquer cities and their inhabitants

Far from the betting factories that a few “PMU City” and their serial terminals can offer, the Paris Mutuels Urbains are more like what the “racing clubs” of a few years ago were. A pleasant, warm site, made for bettors where the newspaper boards have been replaced by digital tablets and where it is good to sit and watch the races live on the Equidia screens. They need to attract betting customers, without putting off others or municipalities.

Sylvain Dominé, Director of PMU’s commercial networks, explains: “For many years, we have been evicted from city centres in the face of real estate pressure, in the face of the revitalization of city centres and our traditional bar model was struggling to resist. So we’re back with a very suitable proposal that pleases the town halls. Those to whom we presented the concept replied: “That’s exactly what we’re looking for, namely a French-style bistro offering a place to Those to whom we presented the concept replied: “That’s exactly what we’re looking for, namely a French-style bistro offering a place of conviviality.” So, it’s up to us to keep that promise.”

On Tuesday, the inauguration was carried out in the presence of Sandrine Jacotot, deputy mayor in charge of shops, markets and local events in Bordeaux.

“For many years, we’ve been evicted from city centres” Sylvain Dominé

150 establishments will be open by 2027 according to this principle of bistros – urban pari-mutuels in cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. Half of them will be pure and complete creations, the other half will be the subject of redevelopment of existing points of sale.

How does the project fit into PMU’s overall strategy?

PMU’s strategic plan includes the ambitious goal of recruiting 1 million customers and increasing turnover by one billion euros by 2026, in the words of Emmanuelle Malecaze-Doublet on Tuesday in Bordeaux. This is a vast programme that includes the modernisation of the image of the races and the PMU brand, in particular through its network.

A total of €40 million will be invested to improve the which will thus be invested in improving the points of sale and their equipment, a little less than a quarter of which will be devoted to these “Paris Mutuels Urbains”, which therefore take a certain place in the PMU’s strategy, as its Managing Director specifies: “The very concept of the Paris Mutuels Urbains is to combine the best of PMU and local commerce to recreate life in the city centers of large cities.

“These points of sale with their iconic design are places of those who live in the neighborhood or who work there, turfists or coffee lovers, regulars or passing customers. In this, they embody PMU’s loyalty to its equestrian DNA, to its popular and convivial dimension. As a symbol of the partnership relationship that the PMU maintains with its merchants in order to support them in their entrepreneurial projects, the Paris Mutuels Urbains are a strong marker of our development ambition and our desire to innovate in the Paris Mutuels Urbains are a strong marker of our development ambition and our desire to innovate in city centres, in favour of social ties, which make us unique.”

PMU, Paris-Vincennes, Trotteur Francais files/photos-harness trots

by Thomas H. Hicks, for Harnesslink