The government launched its PMU 2030 pact last week to stem the fall in horse racing betting and save the race horses sector. Far from the hassles, Clairefontaine’s racetrack in Deauville is in full boom. The reasons for a resurrection.
Against the tide. While the PMU has recorded a hemorrhagic drop in income for more than a decade, the‘CLAIRFONTAINE DEAUVILLE HIPPODROME has an exceptional 2025 year. The Fleurie Coast racing field explodes visitors, and money bet on site and in PMU.
Secretary General of the structure for ten years, Axelle Maître explains the conditions for the renewal of the Calvadosian site, which has become in ten years the first Hippodrome de France in terms of on site (PMH).
- How did you succeed in the feat of increasing your attendance, your bets, when the trend in France is opposite?
Axelle Master : “It’s a long-term job. It has been 20 years since Clairefontaine was more than a field of races, it was a festive field. We managed to bring children attracted by inflatable games, daddy beards, offered popcorn, ponies. Today, these young people are 20 years old and they say”Here, these are my best memories“. We see who post photos of them on social networks 15-20 years ago at 3-4 years ago, and who say”I was there!“, Who come back and discover it differently”.
Axelle Maître, secretary general of the Clairefontaine deauville racecourse.
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© France Télévisions
- Today, coming to the racetrack is one of the summer holidays on the Fleurie coast?
Axelle Master : I think it has always been, but today what is interesting is that we are in a deep change in society, and a vacation in general with people who will seek somewhat unusual leisure, who are looking for an experience. And the racetracks offer a complete experience. Whether you are a turfist or not, whether you love horses or not, whether you like the outdoors or not, whether you want a somewhat unusual moment of restoration. This is what means that today, people who would never be asked the question of coming to a racetrack say “I’m going to go there this afternoon to discover a particular angle“.
- Is the standard profile of the client of the racetrack now very different from “papi-top”?
Axelle Master : “We need the customers of Turfists, people who await every year the reopening of the racetrack, but we also have this clientele of people who will say”Here, up there, there is an all-inclusive buffet at 30 euros, it corresponds to what I expect“We also have a bistronomic at the bottom, why not come with a grilled formula. We have people who come because there are a lot of entertainment for children and that once you have done the beach twice, twice the park, there is something else to do”.
- Recently, you have hosted an electronic music festival. Is it essential to diversify like this?
Axelle Master : “We are open 22 half-days per year, it’s nothing! Our site cannot be opened 365 days a year, so you have to know how to meet the demand when it arrives. When the festival Gardens on the Beach came to see us to offer us to organize the event with us, we said “You have to bet everything“. And we were right, because not only was the organization top, but we had 9,000 people on the racetrack which I think 80% had never set foot on a racetrack. These people, they are conquered by the place, and the next day, there are racing, they come back”.
- They must come to bet, because it remains your main source of income …
Axelle Master : “The bet is the nerve of war is what allows the whole sector to live and the racetrack to live too. In Clairefontaine, we have seen that for 10 years there was a decline, although we are the first Hippodrome of France in terms of PMH (Paris on site), we said that it is done? Bet included with the entrance.
The Clairefontaine deauville hippodrome welcomes 70,000 visitors each year including 30,000 children and 10,000 professionals. In 2025, the structure saw its bets explode, going from 865,000 euros bet on site last year to 925,000 euros (+7%).
The progression of PMU bets (everywhere in France) is even more impressive since it has increased in one year from 71.5 to 83.4 million euros bet on the races which took place in Deauville. An increase of 17% which is explained in particular according to the Secretary General by the aesthetics of the Norman racetrack.