If everything goes to plan, the inhabitants of Réunion Island will be able bet on Mauritian horse racing as from the 26th June. Last week Benoît Halbwachs, the MTC General Manager and Michel Nairac, the betting consultant have come back, very satisfied with the meeting they had with officials of France Galop and PMU.
They were accompanied by Jean Hardy who acted as project facilitator: it is an area he is very familiar with and has mixed with the management of France gallop and PMU since the creation of the Automatic System Limited. ASL has no vested interest in this project which constitutes a remarkable breakthrough at the international level.
On Monday, Shan Ip, the MTC Communication and Marketing Manager also went to Réunion Island for a work session with the Director of the PMU, Franck Dromet. Christian Nuris, director of ‘Ile de France et des Départements Outre Mer’of the PMU and Jean Hardy were also present.
Franck Dromet warmly welcomed the idea of taking bets on Mauritian horse racing for he believes that people in La Réunion closely follow what goes on in the Champ de Mars. The turnover of the various meetings covered by the PMU amounts to approximately 160 million Euros annually or an average of 1 million Euros per betting point.
Franck Dromet is adamant and states: “It is a step forward and we need to work together in everyone’s best interest. The PMU is already taking bets on the World Cup which is in itself an innovation. We have made this decision to avoid “cafés”, our betting points, emptying when the World Cup matches begin. We need to innovate and welcoming Mauritius into our network can only be beneficial for all parties involved. It is a new product and we welcome any new product.”
The MTC and, for that matter, Mauritius as a whole, should be proud of the realization of this project. It could not have come to fruition without the support of Louis Romanet, the President of the International Federation, who has wholeheartedly committed himself to the project.
