Belgian Racing - the example not to follow in Europe | Trainer Magazine | European Trainer Article Index

Aug 28

Aug 28 Belgian Racing - the example not to follow in Europe

BELGIUM’S racing industry has the dubious claim to fame of being the model for other European countries not to follow. This was not always the case. The sport flourished in Belgium from the early 19th Century and the racecourses of Brussels and Ostend were regularly visited by important foreign stables, while Belgian horses experienced success abroad. Nowadays Belgian horses still travel abroad, but the destinations are usually small claimers in France or occasionally Germany, as trainers are forced to cross the border to find opportunities and, most importantly, prize money for their charges. The decline in Belgian racing began in the mid-1980s with devastating effects across the board, from training and breeding to racecourses and betting. Until this time the industry had worked well in the same way as many other continental countries, including France, financed predominantly via a pari-mutuel system. But a downturn in betting turnover proved implacable. Belgian Jockey Club President Philippe Casier explains, “It’s the famous vicious circle. There is less betting turnover, which means less prize money, then lesser quality horses, less good racing, less punters and then we start all over again.” The Belgian PMU was ill-prepared for competition from sports betting and lotteries in the latter part of the 20th Century and with hindsight was not managed in the best interests of racing. Faced with declining turnover, the organisation made agreements with outside operators for communal betting sites and subjects, with the end result that the PMU lost its role as financer of the racing industry and became a general betting operator. Casier adds, “Now we have let ourselves be outpaced and Belgian racing is in the worst possible position.” According to a memorandum prepared in April by the Belgian racing authorities concerning the financing of racing in the country, the contribution from betting to the racing sector is almost zero, which is “unique in Europe and catastrophic”. On- course betting through the pari-mutuel and bookmakers generates around €1million for the racing authorities, while the Belgian PMU contributes around the same amount to racecourses, a little less to the state in taxes and just €300,000 for the racing sector itself. The majority of turnover on horserace betting in Belgium is created by other operators which make no contribution to the racecourses or racing federations. The direct result of this is a sharp drop in prize-money and Belgium now stagnates at the bottom of the European league for owners’ return on investment with an average of just 13%. The average horse in training in Belgium can hope to win a paltry €1,289 in a season, while this figure is €13,258 in France and €6,852 in Britain (source, Belgian memorandum). In 2009 there are 168 races in the programme book, for a total value of €400,900 in win and place prize money. Following the logic of the vicious circle, numbers of horses in training have also dropped dramatically, from 2000 in 1980 to some 350 today, while the breeding industry is also in crisis with 35 foals registered as born in 2008, compared to 325 in 1990. Trainer numbers have followed suit with some handlers going out of business altogether and others plying their trade abroad. Chantilly-based John van Handenhove is an example of the latter and he tells this story: “I began following racing with my father who was a punter, and like many Belgian professionals I started riding in pony races at the age of ten. One day my father, who was a pilot, took some owners to Doncaster horse sales and he was the only one to return with any horses! He trained them himself and once I graduated from pony racing, I took out my amateur licence and rode my father’s horses.” Rather than progress naturally to join his father in training, van Handenhove went abroad and found that the grass was greener on the other side of the fence. “I left Belgium to do some work experience in France and when I saw how badly things were going at home I decided it wasn’t worth going back so I took the plunge and set up here in Chantilly in 1992.” John van Handenhove has trained six winners and 38 placed horses for a total of €138,230 winnings in the first semester of 2009 so he is unlikely to regret his decision, while compatriot Jean-Marc Capitte, who has been licenced in France for 12 years, currently lies in 11th place in the French trainers’ table with over €700,000 in prize money. But these are the exception rather than the rule. A trainer since 1969, Max Hennau had 60 horses under his care in his heyday and has won over 700 races including his domestic Triple Crown with Commodore in 1972. However, 2009 will be his last year as a professional. He says, “I still train four horses but it is difficult to find staff and it’s no fun driving five or six hours to France to p A ick up a 12th place.” NDI Schouteet recorded between 30 and 40 wins as a trainer in Belgium before losing his battle to balance the books. “I had a licence for three or four years but handed it in about a year ago as I didn’t have any more horses, and with the costs of training and the lack of prize money it was impossible to continue. It is difficult for Belgian trainers to win in France as we have very moderate facilities and the French professionals have much better training centres. I didn’t consider trying my luck in France as the competition is so tough. I don’t think Belgian owners would follow a Belgian trainer to France as the training fees are so much higher there and you need more expensive horses to succeed.” Today 20 trainers hold a professional licence in Belgium, a figure which has halved in 20 years. There are also around 40 owner/trainers, similar to permit holders, who train their own horses. There are no training centres, with one handler based at the racecourse of Mons while the rest all operate privately. Belgian racecourses have gone the same way as the country’s horses and trainers. As John van Handenhove remembers, “we had four beautiful racecourses which welcomed good crowds: Boitsfort, Sterrebeek and Groenendael, and a two-month summer meeting at Ostend. Now they are all closed.” Philippe Casier agrees. “The racecourses are in a miserable situation too. Ostend was built in the reign of King Leopold II (opened in 1883) and is charming like a little Deauville. The racing authority of Ostend went out of business and the course now belongs to a property company which has built a golf course and a cinema complex. However, contractually they are obliged to keep at least one of the tracks and the grandstand which is a Listed building.” The racecourse is currently closed for renovation, and there seems little urgency for re-opening. “There is no racing planned for this year and probably next year either,” concludes Casier. Casier and the Belgian Jockey Club do have ambitious plans for Brussels’ track Boitsfort, which still exists in a dilapidated state with a golf course in the centre. “Brussels is the capital of Europe and as racing represents agricultural activity, the racecourse would make a perfect shop window for the industry in front of the European Commission. In alliance with the major racing countries such as France, England and Ireland we could revive the racing in Brussels and put together an international programme at a racecourse where members of the international community could meet. This could restore interest in racing and allow us to show a good image of the sport. Of course there are a lot of obstacles but it’s not an idiotic idea. The main infrastructures are already there and as we have no other racing in the region, ruling could adapt to those of the organising country, whether France, England or elsewhere and the track of nearby former racecourse Groenendael could serve for training.” This proposition does seem a little idealist but it is worth noting that the only active racecourse for flat competition in Belgium was opened around a decade ago. Mons-Ghlin organises flat and trotting meetings and its existence is largely due to the Belgian particularity of separate systems for Flemish-speaking Flanders and Wallonia, the Francophone area of the country. “The people of Wallonia bet much more than those of Flanders, and the tax on betting is superior, however there were no racecourses in Wallonia. There was a political move to create a racecourse from scratch with public funding and so Mons was born”, says Casier. In 2009 there are seven flat, 16 trotting and 24 mixed cards programmed, and while the €172,500 Group 1 Grand Prix de Wallonie is the highlight of the harness racing calendar, the flat equivalent is worth just €10,000 to the winner. This year’s flat Grand Prix went to champion trainer Léo Braem’s six-year-old Sir Rique, who had earlier earned €10,360 (including French-bred premiums) when taking a claimer in Northern France in March. Christian van der Recke is always one to seize an opportunity and his Super Flight outclassed the opposition in the Belgian Derby on the same card, taking €6,000 back to Germany for this ‘classic’ victory. €60,000 were distributed during this Sunday afternoon in June, a record for the past decade in Belgium. A stark contrast to the dwindling interest and enthusiasm for racing in the country is offered by the Belgian Grand National meeting at Waregem. Coinciding, although it is certainly no coincidence, with the annual Kermesse – the town’s week-long beer and sausage fuelled fête, Waregem Koerse is renowned throughout Flemish- speaking Belgium as the place to be on the first Tuesday following the last Sunday in August. Director Thierry Storme explains, “All the problems in Belgium come from a lack of investment. At Waregem we offer good prize money so the races attract a lot of runners. As we have just one meeting per year, it is an important event for the local area, and is even televised on a regional channel. Over 35,000 people come to the Grand Steeple-Chase and of these, 4,500 are VIP guests of commercial sponsors who organise prestigious receptions at the racecourse.” It is these sponsors which allow Waregem Koerse to go against the grain in terms of prize money, and the two-mile seven-furlong feature contest is worth a total of €100,000. “We receive no financial support from the Belgian racing authorities and our prize funds come mainly from sponsors, with a little from on-course betting. Betting turnover for the day is in he region of €750,000 and we have 60% on-course tote betting and 40% bookmakers.” The steeplechase and hurdle courses of Waregem serve on just this one occasion each year, and the Grand Steeple-Chase meeting is a mixed card with four jumps contests and four trotting races. The racecourse organises around 20 trotting meetings per year and the site also has an equestrian centre which holds competitions on a cross-country course in the centre of t T h e t r a c k . HE state of Belgian racing means that locally-trained jumpers are virtually unheard of nowadays, and almost all of the participants in the four jumps races on the card travel across the border from France, with other raiders from Germany or the Czech Republic. “Historically French horses have always done well at this meeting, and our course resembles some of the good French provincial tracks.” Thierry Storme and his Waregem colleagues are determined not to get caught up in the vicious circle of Belgian racing’s decline and have made changes to this year’s event to appeal to better quality horses. “In collaboration with the French handicapper we have changed the format of the two steeplechases, which used to be a divided handicap. Now the feature race will be a +3kg reference handicap, which should be more favourable for better horses and we hope to attract some English and Irish participants.” Better quality racing from abroad may just be the key to saving the Belgian racing industry as Casier reveals another project. “A solution to our problems could be to take mutuel betting on French racing and take out a percentage of the turnover to finance our sector. This is already a successful practice in French-speaking Switzerland and would allow us to relaunch our racing thanks to the quality of the sport in France. “The Belgian Racing Federation and Jockey Club have proposed this plan to the parliament but they are not cooperative. Parliament is not against the idea in principal but they will not authorise bets to be taken in the newsagents where Belgian betting takes place, so we have no outlets. This blockage is incomprehensible as it would only take a little spark to set us back on track, to help with the renovations of Ostend, redeem the training track at Groenendael, and re-open Boitsfort... We will just have to keep fighting.” Determination is the most important attribute left within Belgian racing and organisers and trainers alike will require it in abundance if they are to escape the downward spiral.

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(European Trainer - issue 27 - Autumn 2009)

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