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British racing - Looking to the future

Despite favourable recent debates in the House of Commons, the whole infrastructure of the betting world is in turmoil with the future of the Tote, as always, at the centre of the argument. Racing needs a radical rethink on the way it is funded. Betting exchanges and off-course betting emporia cannot be disinvented but some fairer mechanism for the provision of prize money must be found before owners decamp en masse to France and other jurisdictions. 

Racing ills hardly compare with uprisings in Egypt, earthquakes in Haiti or famine in the Sudan. But 2011 promises a year of cutbacks in prize money, horse numbers and owners with the accompanying hardship for those employed in the industry. Already trainer bankruptcies are occupying unhappy column inches in the racing press while premature retirements from a sport which is much loved by its participants are an unwelcome adjunct to the professional lives of those who make their living in this rarified world.

Colin Mackenzie (European Trainer - issue 33 - Spring 2011)

 

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Is the Grass Greener? Investigating State Incentive Programs

When lifelong horsemen Nancy and Harvey Vanier were married in 1960, state racing programs were barely in the discussion phase.The concept of millions of dollars allocated specifically to and for horses bred or raced in a particular state was at least a decade away.The closest thing to an Illinois-bred was Nancy herself.
Caton Bredar (10 July 2008 - Issue Number: 9)

By Caton Bredar

When lifelong horsemen Nancy and Harvey Vanier were married in 1960, state racing programs were barely in the discussion phase. The concept of millions of dollars allocated specifically to and for horses bred or raced in a particular state was at least a decade away. The closest thing to an Illinois-bred was Nancy herself.

A handful of Illinois champions, hundreds of winners and hundreds of thousands—if not a million purse dollars and breeder bonuses later, the Vaniers are virtually synonymous with the Illinois breeding and racing program. But with increasing complications in state oversight, increasing competition from states like Pennsylvania- with new or rapidly growing incentive programs and new found dollars from venues like casino wagering- the Vaniers and several others are wondering if the old adage no longer applies; “No place like home”.

     Finding specifics for state incentive programs is a little more complicated these days than clicking your heels together three times. Figuring out the ideal or best program, particularly for a trainer, is even tougher. With programs from Arizona and California extending across the country to Florida, New York and West Virginia … the choices are endless and extend not only from state to state, but in some cases, track to track.

     A quick internet search reveals at least a dozen web sites detailing specifics of breeding programs for Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and a host of others. Most of the websites are similar, focusing on the benefits of membership—everything from scholarships and educational programs, to discounts at gift shops, and free admission to the state’s racetracks. Most include at least an outline of rules and deadlines for registration of foals, stallions or broodmares. Some include news releases and political updates.   Many sites are outdated. No site that was discovered includes any mention of specific dollars to be given away.

     While there is no definitive history or record of the development of state incentive programs for Thoroughbred breeding and/or racing, the earliest programs appear to have come into existence in the early 1970’s, an offshoot of state farm or agricultural agencies.

     “I remember they were talking about it soon after we got married,” Nancy recalls. “The intent was to encourage people to raise horses that would help support agriculture and racing in Illinois.”

     Nancy’s father Dr. Louis Aiken had a farm in Illinois, so when the program was finally unveiled just a few years after her and trainer Harvey’s wedding, the decision to focus their efforts on the Land of Lincoln was a no-brainer.

     “We were racing at the time on the East Coast, and one of our main owners had died,” Nancy explains. “We pretty much had to start over. But I had been following the discussions and the program all along,” she continues. “Even though we weren’t racing there, and even though there weren’t any races for Illinois-breds at the time, I had been going through the Department of Agriculture and registering all our horses.”

     When the program finally got off the ground, the Vaniers were ready to be a part of it.   She remembers a misconception, though, that plagued the program in its earliest stages and continues, to at least some extent among state leaders and decision makers today.

     “They thought everyone would just breed to the horse next door, because it saved gasoline,” Vanier recalls. “I said; I’ll travel to California to breed to a stud if it means I can get a nice horse.”

     Similar to the incentive programs in most other states, the Illinois program was initially based around added-money or stakes events specifically for Illinois registered horses, along with daily restricted races “so Illinois horses could exceed” their usual earning potential, according to Vanier, and “we wanted to keep it closed to Illinois stallions.”

     Somewhere along the way, the program was opened up to include stallions outside Illinois, as is the case today in many, if not most, state programs. But the concept of a lucrative stakes program along with a restricted overnight schedule has existed to this day and is, in fact, the backbone of most state racing and breeding programs, for better or for worse.

     “The restricted races keep you alive,” Vanier says, although the current requirement of two restricted Illinois races a day is something many racing officials and some horsemen would argue- keeps at least one hand tied behind the back of the industry in terms of the fight for quality as well as diminishing gambling dollars. 

     While the core base of Illinois breeders and horses remains viable, the long-term vibrancy of the program is questionable.   In other states, such as Ohio where over-all purses have dropped to among the lowest in the nation, the core base of breeders’ isn’t even enough, long-term, to keep a program afloat.

     In Illinois, as is the case even in New York and California, state-restricted races generally prove less attractive to gamblers thus generating fewer dollars in handle. Vanier points to a combination of factors, including a reduced number of racing dates in Illinois along with an uninformed state government and a troubled economy as reasons for uncertainty.

     As budgets have tightened in Illinois and most states throughout the nation, and culture has shifted from farming and agriculture to industry and technology, the importance of Thoroughbred incentive programs has become increasingly difficult to maintain or justify.

     “I don’t know about the program needing tweaking, so much as the state needs tweaking,” Vanier concludes. The same could be said in New York, arguably one of the more successful state breeding programs in the U.S., but where the New York Breeders’ Association increasingly finds themselves in the position of defending their program against political assault.

     While the home page for the N.Y. Breeders’ Association website proclaims the group’s vision, to “create an environment which maximizes the opportunity for New York’s Thoroughbred breeders to produce horses competitive at the highest levels of racing,” the latest news, as of June 1, was much more combative.

     In a self-proclaimed “strongly worded” letter to Governor Paterson, the breeders’ voiced opposition to a proposal to cut OTB payments to outside groups by 20 percent. Chief among OTB’s “partners” are the breeders.

     “This proposed cut represents a $1.2 million annual loss to New York’s Thoroughbred breeding programs,” wrote New York Breeders’ President, Michael McMahon. “It would have devastating effects on over 400 mostly small, family-owned and operated farms, and ultimately damage the entire horse racing industry in New York State.”

            An official statement from McMahon in response to a New York Post article in May detailing OTB’s plans for liquidation echoed the same sentiments.

     “Mayor Bloomberg should stop threatening and start thinking about how the city’s OTB can reform its ways, improve efficiencies and become more profitable, without hurting horseracing and taking money out of New York’s thoroughbred breeders’ who are the backbone of our state’s horseracing industry.”

     The statements, and the situation itself in New York, underscores the role government and politics directly play in state horse racing programs, even programs occurring under the most ideal of circumstances. But if government is the puppet master controlling incentive programs, revenue from casino gaming may turn out to be the strings from which everything dangles. Maybe nowhere is that more evident than in the state of Pennsylvania.

     At the start of 2007, Pennsylvania horses and horsemen may have met their messiah, at least for the time being, in the form of one-armed bandits. Coins from the slot machines started clinking in to the tracks by July of that year. For the breeders, the subsequent impact--$5.2 million in awards, up over 80 percent from the previous year, was obvious.

    The subsequent impact in racing, according to longtime racing official Sal Sinatra, is also nothing short of remarkable.

     “People are calling from all over the place,” Philadelphia Park’s Racing Secretary since 1999 explains. “Guys from New York are bringing in P.A.-breds now. There are big changes. The former President of Panama was at the track the other day. The Eagles coaching staff is putting together a string of horses. It’s definitely different.”

     Which is also the best way to describe the program, a program of incentives manifesting itself differently at each Pennsylvania track. According to Sinatra, track officials and horsemen at each location have worked to come up with a plan for distributing the new-found money, with the system varying by location.

     A glance at any of the condition books tells the story. On any given day, for every race in the Philadelphia Park condition book, there’s a 40 percent bonus for registered Pennsylvania horses, including lower level claiming races.

     “A decent P.A.-bred who breaks his maiden (in open company) then puts together a couple seconds or thirds,” Sinatra says, “can earn close to $200,000. That’s big.”

      Maybe not quite as big, but equally important: Penn National’s condition book lists a 25 percent bonus for every race, along with more races restricted to state-breds. With a smaller population base to draw from, the size of the slot revenue for Penn National is generally lower than Philadelphia Park. The base of Pennsylvania-bred horses, though, is solid on location, and the condition book caters to it, with more restricted races for state-breds. Generally, Penn National offers at least one state-bred restricted race a day, in addition to the bonus.

     And then there’s the newest track, Presque Isle. As soon as the track opened last year, horsemen from throughout the Midwest started making the trek to the sport’s newest, synthetic track facility, with the added slot money part of the jackpot.

     “They can’t spend the money fast enough,” Sinatra says. In addition to a 50 percent bonus on every race, Presque Isle offers an average of two restricted Pennsylvania-bred races every weekend, and a $1,000 guaranteed bonus for every Pennsylvania-bred that just makes a start.

     “Basically, the track makes a proposal,” Sinatra offers as to the process by which the program is set, “and then everyone tries to fit their horses into a program.”

     In addition to the overnight opportunities offered at each track, the stakes program is strong, too, with well over $3 million given out this year through events like Pennsylvania’s Day at the Races and other Pennsylvania stakes, the majority of which are $75,000 events. It’s the most stakes money ever offered in Pennsylvania, but something Sinatra says he would like to see changed.

     “I still think a championship race should be at least a $250,000 race,” he says. “Then, if there’s a Hard Spun out there, he might use one of those races as prep for a Triple Crown race or a Breeders’ Cup race.

     Hard Spun, who played a strong supporting role in the 2007 Triple Crown races before winning the King’s Bishop at Saratoga, was one of three Pennsylvania-breds to reach millionaire status, the first time in history Pennsylvania-breds have reached such lofty standards. Sinatra talks of a state head to head challenge with New York’s breeding program one day, similar to the Sunshine Millions, an annual event designed by Frank Stronach and his Magna Entertainment pitting California-breds against Florida-breds for over one million dollars in purses.

     “I think Pennsylvania-breds have gotten fairly competitive on most levels with New York-breds,” Sinatra says, adding that discussions with P.J. Campo, the racing secretary for the New York Racing Association, are already underway. “I’d hope we could have something by 2010 or so and think it would be a nice little challenge.”

     The concept of single day, big money events is not necessarily universally endorsed. Vanier says that while her family has been the beneficiary of Illinois showcase days, she, for one, would rather see bigger purses daily, and that the purpose of an incentive program should be about encouraging people to breed in the state and race in the state—not just for one day, for every day.

     Still, she has her eye on states like Kentucky, which in 2006 instituted the Kentucky Breeders Incentive Fund, which paid out $15.6 million in incentives last year, to breeders of Kentucky maiden and allowance winners.

     Or Indiana, where slot machines were scheduled to roll out this summer.

     Or Pennsylvania, where as of June, a Philly Park conditioned claiming race carried a purse of $18,000.    For a Pennsylvania-bred winner of such a race, that translates to $9,600 plus the 40 percent bonus, or over $14,000 for winning a $5,000 claiming race.

     “These days, a P.A.-bred has to run above what he’s worth,” Sinatra says. “We’re averaging eight claims a day.”

     The changing economy has led Sinatra to make some changes in his condition book. “We’re trying to keep the small guy in the game,” he says, and added starter allowance races to his menu, to give owners and trainers of winning claimers the opportunity to at least run once or twice more before risking the loss of the horse in the claiming box.

     “The bottom line is, we’ve tried to get the bottom claiming horse to at least be able to earn $25,000,” Sinatra says. “The goal -- that a horse, if he can run a little, could pay for his keep.”

    The end result, according to Sinatra and others, is a trickle up effect.

    “My guys,” he says referring to his local core of owners and trainers, “… are solid guys. These guys are doing okay now, and it’s nice to see.”

     “In the Fall, our guys were at first getting their heads beaten in…it was Todd Pletcher shipping in and winning by ten, Kiaran McLaughlin coming in from New York, winning by ten. And while it was nice for me to see those horses and horsemen, it wasn’t great for our horsemen.”

     With some minor changes, Sinatra says local horsemen can still protect their horses, and now some of the better horses are finding local places to stay.

     “Some of my guys used to get third string horses from major outfits. Now that the money is there, those outfits are sending better horses.”

      For the moment, it seems, even from loyal supporters of other state programs, Pennsylvania is worth looking at.

     “Everybody’s looking at Pennsylvania now, and it’s just nice to see.”

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Are racecourses selling their customers?

The world has gone gambling mad, and perhaps it will hit us harder than most people anticipate in coming years. There is fierce competition out there, for the betting pound, the gambling euro and the wagering dollar. Therefore, this is not a good time for horseracing to lose its share of the gambling pot.

Geir Stabell (European Trainer - issue 22 - Summer 2008)

The world has gone gambling mad, and perhaps it will hit us harder than most people anticipate in coming years. Quite how it hits us, will be crucial to the future of horseracing. Or, perhaps one should say, quite how it does not hit us will be of great importance.

There is fierce competition out there, for the betting pound, the gambling euro and the wagering dollar. Therefore, this is not a good time for horseracing to lose its share of the gambling pot. This is not the time to "sell our customers". This is the time make some shrewd business decisions and draw up some productive long term strategies. These are also days when we are heading into a global recession. Believe it or not, that will not necessarily slow down the betting market. Studies have shown that people are quite likely to bet more when times are hard. Gambling becomes the only way to put a little bit extra in the pocket. So, this is the time for racecourses, racing publications and racing communities to be competitive to promote racing as a betting product. To promote the sport as the best betting product.

Are they taking this opportunity? To a certain extent yes', but unfortunately in many cases no', and seemingly never very well. Many courses are today promoting sports betting, online poker betting and online games. Yes, sponsors and advertisers from these sectors of the betting market plough money into racing, in the short term, but it is my guess that long term, racecourse managements and racing editors will be regretting taking that carrot in the first place. Why are companies taking bets on sports, such as football, golf and tennis, eager to advertise at our racecourses, in racing publications and in our racecards in the first place?

The answer is very simple, they are trying to move gambling money across from horseracing to their own betting products. That is the only reason they promote their products at the racecourses. And, to our astonishment, the racecourses allow it. What is happening is as absurd as it would be if all McDonald's restaurants in this world had huge posters promoting Kentucky Fried Chicken. "No, hang on a bit" you might think. But that is actually quite a good comparison to what is going on in horseracing these days. Let's take a premier European racecourse as an example. Why not look at Newmarket, and their Guineas weekend last year. Stan James Bookmakers sponsored the Guineas meeting, and over the two days this company had 14 full pages of advertisements in the racecards (plus the four cover pages on both days). This is how they decided to make use of the 14 pages: 8 pages promoted online poker and online games. 4 pages promoted Stan James Bookmakers only. 2 pages promoted betting on horseracing (although as free bet competitions). To put this another way, 57% of the sponsor's advertising space was used to promote forms of betting which is in direct competition with horseracing. Only 14% of the space was devoted to horseracing alone. The two most strategically placed advertising pages, immediately preceding the 2,000 Guineas pages and immediately before the 1,000 Guineas pages, were both used to promote online poker. This is a typical example of how bookmakers use a sponsorship deal with a racecourse these days. They are clearly not going into such an agreement solely to get people to bet more on racing. They are not even primarily trying to get people to bet more on racing.

Quite the opposite. The Stan James Guineas meeting is not the only example. On Saturday August 11, the opening day of the Football Premiership season in England, Newmarket's card was sponsored by the bookmaking firm Skybet.com, and their four sponsored races on the day had the following titles: The Skybet.com for all you football betting handicap The Premiership kick off with Skybet.com handicap The Skybet.com Sweet Solera Stakes (g3) The interactive football betting with Skybet live stakes Only the feature event, the Sweet Solera Stakes, was not used to promote betting on football. Again, the bulk of the sponsor's advertising went towards attracting punters to bet on others sports not on horseracing.

There can be no doubt that racecourses need their sponsorship revenue quite badly but this is probably not an ideal way to earn it. When a racecourse with a high profile like Newmarket can be dictated to in such a way by sponsors, what about the smaller tracks? Don't forget that sponsorship deals like those described above are, in effect, a case of horseracing "selling their customers". For every pound or euro bet on other sports, casinos, or poker, there will be one pound or euro less bet on horseracing.

Why does a company sponsoring a classic horserace choose to devote nearly 60% of the advertising space included in the package to promoting non-racing betting products? It is hardly because the company sees a great future in horseracing, is it? Nor is it as a result of their care for the future of horseracing. It is simply a business decision - and it is part of a long term plan. When you go to a big football match, or watch a match on TV, do you see many adverts, banners or boards promoting horseracing and betting on horseracing? If you do, please let me know, as I believe it would be a rare sight indeed. If you decide to try your luck in online games or online poker, you enter a web site offering such products. How many ads or banners promoting horseracing will you see on these sites? Having done a quick test, looking at ten poker sites, my discovery was, to no little surprise, "0-from-10". As touched on in my piece on the Global Superbet in Trainer Issue 20 (Winter 2007), one big danger for horseracing is that these competing products are so, so much cheaper to operate, which puts horseracing at a great disadvantage. Should horseracing break loose altogether from these other forms of gambling, or should racing people work towards making these relationships closer, and hopefully healthier for racing?

The current state of affairs is not a case of horseracing in a mutually beneficial co-operation with other betting markets. It smacks more of a case of other betting markets exploiting horseracing. And the powers to be in horseracing seem to be happy to let this to continue. The installation of slot machines has generated revenue for racecourses in North America; that is a fact. It is also a fact, however, that at many of these courses, the betting turnover on the races has gone down since the slots arrived. The horse is becoming less and less important.

Take a look at this cutting, from an article published on the web site videopokerslots.co.uk last year: "Maryland racing industrialists were curious and apprehensive about the potential impact of their new nemesis: Delaware Park's slot machines. But after several weeks of operation, the apprehension between Marylanders has disappeared - now it has become an all out hysteria. The reason: slots have overtaken horse racing. Delaware's slot machines have become a hit that any business would consider phenomenal. Imagine, they're making $300 per machine, and they have a total of 715 slot machines - that's more than $200,000 a day. As stipulated, slot machines should earn $10 million as additional revenues for the Delaware's racing season, consequently grabbing the thoroughbreds from Maryland. Delaware's minor league harness track has quintupled since the installment of slots in the area and is now a major competitor with other race tracks. If this were any other industry, Maryland's tracks would also install slot machines. But slot machines are a hot political debate, while the racing tracks are so strictly regulated that minor changes needs a state-wide approval. These are troubled times for the thoroughbred industry. If racing tracks continue to lose revenue, they would have to ask for slot machines. If legislators won't approve, they'd ask to at least give them economic relief to help them commercially survive." Betting on slot machines has overtaken' betting on horseracing, but at least this North American course operates their own casino-like betting products.

Many racecourses in the USA do have the opportunity to take a "if we can't beat them, let's join them" stand. Still, while the gamblers are taking an increasing interest in betting on slots and other games, they seem to be losing interest in horseracing. US racecourses do not, unlike courses in England, allow extensive advertising from companies in direct competition with their own betting products.

In England the financial muscle of non-racing betting operators is making an all-round mark on racing, not just by ambushing the racecourses with seemingly lucrative sponsorship deals. The media is another side to this, with TV channels and publications offering advertising opportunities. This is all black and white The Racing Post, Europe's principle horseracing daily, and one of the biggest in the world, has developed in a similar way to the racecourses over the past ten years. This paper has a daily "sports betting section" at the back, typically taking up 20 to 24 pages, including the greyhound racing coverage. On Saturdays, the sports section is a separate paper in the middle, often up to 40 pages thick. Now, that may not seem too bad, as the main paper will have 100 pages. What is interesting though is to take a look at the proportion of editorial pages and advertisements. Taking a randomly chosen Saturday, I discovered that the paper had 11 editorial pages on horseracing (excluding the racecards) yet as many as 10 editorial pages on football and other sports. This balance, or imbalance if you will, is simply driven by market forces. Of course the paper needs advertising revenue, and they therefore need to cover the areas their advertisers are interested in.

This is all so easy to understand, it is all "black and white". To the accountants, that is. Examining the same Saturday issue of The Racing Post reveals the facts about how the advertising space for betting was sold. The chosen day was January 26, with the Festival Preview day at Cheltenham, and racing at six courses in all in England and Ireland: Approximately 10 advertising pages exclusively devoted to betting on horseracing Approximately 11 advertising pages exclusively devoted to betting on other sports When looking at the full-page advertisements on the same day, it is interesting to note that the paper carried four full-page ads promoting betting on racing (including one for a betting system), compared to six full-page ads promoting betting on other sports. When watching horseracing on TV, the situation is very similar. On big days, a large proportion of the commercial breaks are promoting non-racing betting products. We have all seen them, the online games commercials, the commercials promoting betting on football, or playing poker online, nicely positioned before a Group One race is due to go off. This happens also on the TV channels originally devoted to and backed by horseracing. In England, the channel At The Races last year decided for a trial period to end its North American program at 11pm GMT (when the pubs are closing), in order to make room for a poker program lasting three hours. What did this mean? It meant that the racing went off air before many of the big stakes events are run in the USA. So, lower grade racing was being shown, and competing with high profile football matches and other TV programs, before eventually making way for poker. What this also means, and this is the most interesting side effect: that horseracing has lost control over its own product.

It seems bizarre that while horseracing authorities and racecourse managements have been fighting long and hard for their control over the rights of live pictures from the racecourses, they have accepted broadcasting schedules that include loads of commercials promoting betting products that are in direct competition with horseracing. They may believe that they have indeed protected the rights to live pictures, and technically they have, but they have absolutely no control over the end product being offered to the viewer. In the TV world, it is sometimes a bit difficult to say who makes the crucial decisions, but it is fair to say that in many cases it is the sponsors. Perhaps you will now be saying, yes, this article is interesting but there is precious little here that we did not already know'. Well, that may be. But don't forget, sometimes stating the obvious is the best way of saying why is nobody doing something about this?'

The further you drive down a narrow dead end street before realising your mistake, the more troublesome it will be to reverse all the way back out again and the longer it will take. And, in the fierce competition for the betting pound, euro and dollar, time is of the essence. Do not let it run out. If someone is going to instigate serious changes in this muddle, that someone will certainly have to come from within the horseracing industry. It is all in our own hands. For the time being.

 

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Eco-trainers - turning a profit from manure

Chantilly trainers have gone green and are soon to be the envy of their contemporaries around the world with a ground-breaking manure-disposal project. The 10-million euro project is at the cutting edge of technology and consists of using a process of methanisation to convert the waste into electricity which will then be sold to the EDF (French Electricity Board), and into heat which will be used locally.

Katherine Ford (European Trainer - issue 21 - Spring 2008)

Chantilly trainers have gone green and are soon to be the envy of their contemporaries around the world with a ground-breaking manure-disposal project. Faced with piles of manure, the bane of all trainers’ lives, Chantilly professionals are working together to launch a pioneering scheme which looks set to solve all their problems and at the same time reap both environmental and financial rewards.

The 10-million euro project, which should be operational towards the end of 2009, is at the cutting edge of technology and consists of using a process of methanisation to convert the waste into electricity which will then be sold to the EDF (French Electricity Board), and into heat which will be used locally.

CHANTILLY TRAINERS LEAD THE WAY

With some 2500 thoroughbreds currently in training in and around the towns of Chantilly, Gouvieux and Lamorlaye, the region is France’s leading training centre and among the most prestigious sites for preparing racehorses in the world. A further 700 polo ponies and 800 riding horses are stabled in the area to make a grand total of 4,000 equine inhabitants. Slightly less glamorous than the haul of Group 1 victories which the four-legged stars of Chantilly bring home each season is the waste they produce. Each horse creates one tonne of manure per month. The muckheaps of Chantilly are overflowing and a solution is urgently needed.

Dual-purpose handler Richard Crépon was one of the first to react to the issue, and in early 2006 he became president of the Lamorlaye Bio-Resources Association. “We started to research ways to deal with our large quantities of manure and initially came up with the idea of converting it into compost, or incineration. Local farmers made a small contribution by spreading shavings-based manure on their land. But none of these systems were perfect and we realised that we needed to take control of the situation ourselves”. It was then that the current CUMA (Co-operative for the Utilization of Agricultural Material) was born, again under the presidency of Crépon.

All of Chantilly and the surrounding area’s hundred or so licence holders, as well as the towns’ riding school, livery and polo proprietors, have been invited to invest the modest sum of 100 euros to join the co-operative which, as Crépon explains, “needs manure in order for our project to be feasible”. The CUMA’S methanisation project offers a mutually-beneficial solution to a relatively new problem.

Until recently trainers had been able to rely on the abundance of mushroom producers in Chantilly to dispose of their troublesome “by-product”. The farmers had chosen Chantilly for its combination of an unending supply of the horse manure necessary for their fungus to grow, and the geological characteristics of the surrounding area. Chantilly is built on valuable limestone which has been excavated over the centuries, notably to construct the spectacular Grandes Ecuries and Chateau which give such charm to France’s Classic racecourse. The quarrying left vast underground caves perfect for mushroom cultivation and thirty years ago the area was home to around 25 mushroom farms. “They used to pay us to take away our manure. Nowadays, the industry has largely moved to Eastern Europe, leaving only 4 mushroom producers in Chantilly. We have trouble to get anyone to empty our manure pits and it costs more and more”. In Chantilly it now costs 15 euros per tonne for trainers to dispose of their organic waste.

TRAINERS WARY OF CURRENT POLLUTION RISK

Aside from the purely practical inconvenience of evacuating the tonnes of waste produced weekly, fellow trainer Tony Clout, making a regretful gesture towards a steaming skip full of manure, comments, “we don’t realise it, but we contribute to the greenhouse effect every day with all this manure”. Clout is another board member of the French Trainers’ Association who is an active player in the CUMA. Like all his trainer colleagues, he is primarily concerned by another form of pollution. “Horse manure is officially considered as a waste product and we are responsible for it until it has been completely destroyed. At the moment we have no control over where it ends up. In the current crazy situation, our manure is transported the length and breadth of France. It is always worrying to see piles of manure left standing in fields across the countryside, as they could easily have originated in our stables. There is a real risk that effluent from the waste will pollute the ground water in these instances and the trainer will be held liable and fined”.

PERFECT MOMENT TO ‘GO GREEN’

The increased environmental awareness on the part of the authorities, aside from making them more likely to take trainers to task for inadequate disposal of their waste, has another more beneficial side for the CUMA. “The timing has been ideal for us”, explains Crépon. “We started to think about environmentally-friendly ways to recycle our manure at the same time as the government was creating grants and finance schemes for exactly this type of project”. One such policy is that proposed by EDF, who pay a special tariff of 140 euros per megawatt hour (compared to usual rate 60 euros MW/h) for electricity produced by renewable sources. This price operates on the basis of a 15 year contract, which the CUMA has secured. “All this is possible thanks to our contract with EDF”, states Clout.

Although the finer details have yet to be settled, the principle behind the Chantilly project is the same as that used in Germany by around 4,000 methanisation plants for pig slurry. Nevertheless this will be the first time the technology has been used for horse manure. Bruno Battistini, consultant to the Lamorlaye Bio-Resource Association, explains, “We are setting a European and worldwide precedent. The pig manure operations are common in Germany and function in the same way as sewage processing plants as the slurry is highly-concentrated and in liquid form. However this is the first time anyone has attempted the process with dry matter, although it is similar to that used for household waste”. In France there are two such plants, in Calais and Lille, for recycling household waste but there remain a number of unknowns concerning Chantilly’s innovative project and the CUMA is still conducting research in conjunction with the INRA (National Institute for Agronomic Research) of Narbonne. “Our primary concern is to verify that our horse manure is compatible with the anaerobic breakdown process. We must also be sure of the levels and composition of the biogases produced, and finally that the equipment will stand the test of time”. At the current time, around 18 months before the project is due to leave the starting stalls, Battistini and the trainers are certain that the process will work with straw-based manure and are expecting confirmation from the INRA that shavings will be able to be recycled in the same conditions.

WHAT IS METHANISATION?

Methanisation is an anaerobic fermentation process through which the waste is decomposed by bacteria in an air-free environment. The manure will therefore be collected in giant sealed silos, where it will ferment to give off biogas consisting largely of methane and carbon dioxide. These gases will in turn be used to drive turbines which produce the electricity destined for EDF. “While EDF is our guarantee of income”, explains Battistini, “we have a legal obligation towards them according to which, in order to benefit from their favourable rates, we must not waste potential energy”. The latent heat generated during the methanisation process therefore becomes a secondary resource. In addition to its utility in heating the plant’s reactors, which need to be maintained at an operational temperature of 55°C, it will also be sold locally for heating purposes. A 1 ½ hectare site has been chosen for the plant, on land owned by the Institut de France and subsidised by France Galop. Its central location at Mont de Po, between the training centres of Chantilly and Lamorlaye, while being practical for trainers, is of vital logistical importance for the sale of the heat. Within just a few hundred metres of the site are the AFASEC jockeys’ school and the Bois Larris Red Cross Hospital, the two major clients whose heating systems are to be supplied by the warmth created by the turbines. Their proximity means that a minimal amount of heat will be lost during transfer. Another bonus with the location is that there is already a 20,000 volt cable running underground across the site to cater for the hospital, which means that no unsightly pylons will be required.

VALUABLE WASTE IS LEFT OVER FROM METHANISATION PROCESS

After the three-to-four-week methanisation process has been completed, around 60% of the initial volume will remain as biologically stable residue. “Our profitability is also dependent upon the use we make of this residue”, says Battistini. “The heat we sell to the hospital and the AFASEC will be running at 100% of its potential in December and January, however that will be reduced to 10% in the summer months. This seasonal issue will affect our global efficiency and in order to qualify for the subsidies on offer, we need to prove that we utilize at least 75% of the energy produced”. The solution to this final conundrum is to recycle the residue a second time to create fuel briquettes. The latent heat which is surplus to requirements over the summer will be used to dry, and then carbonise, the waste from the digestors at temperatures of up to 400°C. The resulting matter will be compressed into briquettes for use either in households or possibly by the AFASEC or the hospital if their boilers could be converted to use this type of fuel. The CUMA are also keen not to leave the remaining mushroom-growers in the lurch and are working together to determine whether the farms can make use of the residue.

A WELL SUPPORTED SCHEME

The project is expected to cost in the region of 10 million euros. “We have yet to finalize a finance plan as we are still awaiting the various technical validations from the INRA. When we have these we will be able to make an accurate evaluation of the cost of the plant and then source funding for our operation”. However Battistini does not have any concerns on this score. In addition to the EDF contract, a whole range of grants and support dedicated to the development of biomass projects and the recycling of waste are proposed on regional, national and European levels, including Grenelle Environment and Brussels. The scheme is supported by the government ministries of agriculture and environment as well as by Minister of Budget, Public Accounts and Civil Service Eric Woerth, who is Mayor of the prestigious racing town.

Indeed the town of Chantilly itself, thanks to its status as a Pole d’Excellence Rurale (Centre of Rural Excellence), is eligible for European money dedicated to this type of project. Another source of income could quite simply be a bank loan. This may be more simple than it first appears, as Battistini confirms, “According to a law which was passed five or six years ago, all the major French high-street banks offer loans called ‘Sofergies’ which are dedicated to the financing of this type of equipment. The interest rate is negotiable but the real advantage of the idea is that banks must give priority to innovative projects such as ours which will produce renewable energy”. In the future, carbon credits may be recuperated by the CUMA, although there is still work to do on this front as they are currently only available for porcine and bovine schemes. Battistini intends to change this state of affairs. “We are lobbying the CITEPA (Technical Interprofessional Centre for the Study of Atmospheric Pollution) to convince them to change this ruling and hope to benefit from carbon credits within a year or two”.

OUTLAY WILL BE REPAID WITHIN A DECADE

Richard Crépon and Tony Clout aim to have written off the cost of the factory within seven or eight years, whereas Battistini offers the slightly more conservative estimate of ten years. Whoever is right on this minor issue, the CUMA seems assured of success on both economic and ecological levels. “Once we have repaid the cost of the plant, the trainers, who are the shareholders in the CUMA, will reap the financial benefits”, says Clout. “In the future we should be able to return to a situation in which trainers are paid for the removal of their manure, and not vice versa”. While the renewable energy supplied to EDF and local services will make a small impact on country-wide electricity production, the project is also advantageous in cutting down on primary pollution which currently originates from the currently steaming muckheaps of Chantilly.

The CUMA will seek to standardize manure storage for all the region’s trainers so that all waste is kept in covered pits or containers prior to transportation to the plant’s closed fermentors, thereby considerably reducing current methane emissions. While the project is far from completion, the ensemble of favourable circumstances mean that the members of Chantilly’s CUMA can be confident of a cleaner, cheaper future in which they will be in control of the manure their horses produce. Their progress will be followed with interest by trainers around Europe and the world.

 

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