When he has played a few coins on a horse, the racer waits for the validation of the provisional arrival to receive his winnings, because the race commissioners must check a possible change of line, the crossing of stakes or even the pace of the trot . A complicated exercise on 95% of the racecourses in France which are often only equipped with a camera to monitor several kilometers and a following car. This is why the company Delaunay Productions, founded in Bihorel (near Rouen), now offers to follow the horses in the sky on the racecourses. A new angle at the service of commissioners.
Thomas Delaunay was born with horses. His father is the president of the Société des courses de Bihorel-lès-Rouen and the Trois Pipes racecourse. Graduated with a Master's degree in communications, the young Normand founded Delaunay Productions in 2021 to intervene in events and audiovisual production. Recently, he signed with the French Hiking Federation for the filming of a series of videos in France and overseas as part of the Olympic Games.
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“Very quickly,” he explains, “I took over the drone technology in order to obtain all the patents and authorizations. It is a branch which has rapidly developed in all sectors and in particular in the one which I know very well since my childhood, horse racing. It is a sport like tennis or football that must benefit from video assistance. We can therefore offer a simple, effective and inexpensive solution to meet the expectations of stewards at small racecourses.” Initially a volunteer, Thomas Delaunay was able to hire two certified pilots, Mathilde and Louis, and flew three drones during horse racing meetings on around fifteen racetracks in the greater North-West region.
From another angle
The first in France after numerous tests, Delaunay Productions obtained validation from the national body Le Trotteur Français and has never suffered a refusal of flight authorization from the prefectures. “Because today,” he believes, “the technology is mature, secure with drones costing more than 10,000 euros that can fly in the rain, the wind and even the snow. Of course, at first this raised questions about usefulness and safety. It was necessary to explain and reassure. But from 2019, we were able to provide reliable images. »
“During each race,” explains Thomas Delaunay, “the pilot positioned in an area outside the public takes off the drone three minutes before the start. He positions it between 15 and 40 meters in height, around thirty meters away from the horses that he is not allowed to fly over. Then he follows the race in side view. A few minutes after arrival, he returns the video to the commissioners who find themselves with another angle. They can thus zoom in as closely as possible on each competitor. This removes a lot of doubts about the races even if we do not aim to provide the only images available. »
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Still the only provider to provide this service, Delaunay Productions is paid a flat rate of a maximum of 500 euros per meeting (excluding travel costs), “because small racecourses do not have much budget for organization”. “This is why,” he explains, “the company needs volume for it to be profitable. For the moment, we operate from Orléans to Yvelines and Seine-Maritime, as well as at the Dieppe racecourse. We are starting to offer our services in Hauts-de-France and Lower Normandy. We have been contacted in the South-East and the South-West but we cannot yet hire, because we need at least 70 dates per year. For the moment, continues Thomas Delaunay, we speak at around a hundred meetings per year. We hope to increase to 160 by the end of 2024. As we can intervene in all categories, we are mainly targeting racecourses where races also take place during the week. We offer paid tests, but without obligation. »