How British punters have fallen in love with French racing in recent years

The Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is the Sunday when the whole racing world watches France.

But, somewhat surprisingly for two countries with such different betting cultures, Britain has become the number one export market for French racing in the last three years.

Britain and Ireland are now major drivers for growth with former monopoly operator Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU), as chief executive Emmanuelle Malecaze-Doublet explains.

"We really felt we needed to adapt to the public and the culture in Britain and Ireland is for fixed odds betting," Malecaze-Doublet told the Racing Post. "It's no use thinking that because something works in France it will work everywhere.

"You have to adapt to the culture in each country and just because you are selling French races into Britain doesn't mean you should expect British punters to adopt a way of betting they are not used to.

PMU Director General Emmanuelle Malecaze-DoubletCredit: PMU/Scoop Dyga

"In the UK and Ireland, fixed odds betting really is the dominant force. After years of pursuing pool betting options in those two countries we began to work with partners on a fixed odds product.

"The UK is today our number one market and has become extremely important to us, really over the last three years."

Malecaze-Doublet added: "We started working with a single bookmaker and that has grown to over 20 firms including all the market leaders.

"It has worked very well with Britain because we have a lot of races, while we are lucky to have some British and Irish jockeys and trainers in France, meaning there is that familiarity for punters.

"The fact we are so close geographically also helps because the British and Irish stars regularly come and run in our best races. All in all we have a great relationship with our bookmaking partners.

"In addition we have a wonderful partnership with Sky Sports Racing, who broadcast our best racing on a daily basis."

The bookmaker partnerships yielded British and Irish fixed odds turnover of €16 million across the Arc day card at Longchamp in 2021, of which €7m was bet on the big race itself.

That made Britain the number one contributor in Europe and, although the figures do not match the two Asian powerhouses, Malecaze-Doublet believes there is real value in the sustained desire for British and Irish players when it comes to French racing.

"The Sky Sports link-up is vital so that you have people regularly betting on French racing, which is a very different model to with other international partners," she said.

"The Arc is when the whole world is watching French racing and of course Hong Kong and Japan bet fortunes on the day.

"Japan bets the most but it's very different because they only take one race and are involved on only a few days in the year. UK bettors are playing on French racing every day of the year and we still feel there is plenty of growth potential in Britain."

Read these next:

Arc set to be run on 'very soft' going with more rain expected at Longchamp

Who wins the 2022 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe based on previous trends?

2022 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe: raceday running order and how to watch

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.