It will not be a Prix d'Amérique like any other on Sunday.
The 100th edition of the World Trotting Championship, the rendezvous that everyone is waiting for, will take place for the first time without an audience at the Paris-Vincennes racecourse due to the health crisis.
A heartbreak, but an obligation for Jean-Pierre Barjon, 61 years old and volunteer president of the LeTrot company for a year.
This one thus evokes the consequences of Covid-19 on the races but also the new sponsorship contract with the Zeturf betting site which inflated the total allocation of the event.
Does a Prix d'Amérique without an audience lose its flavor?
JEAN-PIERRE BARJON.
No, if we talk about his sporting interest.
It remains the goal of all participants, and bettors are offered the same quality plateau.
They study and bet on the 18 best trotters on the circuit.
On the other hand, for the festive side, we will have nothing.
Each year, the Prix d'Amérique brought enthusiasts from all over France.
Some took the opportunity to spend the weekend in Paris.
This will not be the case.
In aviation, we call it degraded mode.
We are in “degraded plus” mode because our resources, which come from betting, are not degraded much.
But for the show, it is obvious that this will have nothing to do with the previous years, when 40,000 people were in the stands.
What is the shortfall?
The general trend is around -25% of the stakes
(Editor's note: in the past, more than 40 million euros have already been played on the meeting of the Prix d'Amérique, a record).
When do you expect the spectators to return?
Like everyone else, we are waiting for the government's announcements and we will adapt according to them.
The conditions for accessing the Paris-Vincennes racecourse on Sunday will obviously be drastic ...
As every day, we will apply very strict specifications so that the races are contested, whether they take place at a trot or at a gallop in France.
Each horse may be accompanied by a maximum of three people: its trainer or representative, its lad and its owner or stable manager.
You should know that after the first confinement, when the races resumed on May 11, no owner was accepted on the racetracks.
The specifications were reopened a month or two ago on this subject.
On the other hand, the names of all accompanying persons must be communicated to the organizing company the day before the races.
These are very strict rules, but they are necessary for the smooth running of our meetings and for the continuation of them.
For the anecdote, the spouses and children of professionals are not admitted on site.
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The good news for the winners is the return of the total race allowance to € 1 million.
In times of crisis, how did LeTrot achieve this?
Thanks to sponsorship, which allowed us to obtain a resource.
It was important that the biggest race in the world, which had kept its sporting appeal, also kept its economic appeal.
Why did LeTrot choose Zeturf as a partner instead of PMU, the incumbent operator?
We did not choose Zeturf.
We simply proposed a new product, and Zeturf showed its interest in the Prix d'Amérique Races brand and its mechanics, which sells 100 days of animation.
Tell us about this new brand, Prix d'Amérique Races…
We can say that our event was poorly marketed, so we created a new product consisting of nine events: the six qualifying races for the Prix d'Amérique associated with what we now call the Ultimate Finals, namely the Prix d'Amérique Legend. Race, the Prix de France Speed Race and the Prix de Paris Marathon Race.
These nine competitions run between November 22 and February 28 are grouped under the banner Prix d'Amérique Races and sponsored by Zeturf, therefore, this year.
In addition to making sense, it's a product that creates value, and that's good because we're here for that.
Some say you shoot yourself in the foot in PMU by putting a rival forward.
What do you answer them?
Let them be wrong because the figures show that, for now, the Prix d'Amérique Races Zeturf has had the same growth for PMU as for Zeturf.
The product benefits both.
January 25, 2009. Jean-Pierre Barjon (center) joins his driver, Franck Nivard, after the victory of his trotter, Meaulnes du Corta.
Scoopdyga
You won the Prix d'Amérique as an owner in 2009…
In 2009, I was a racing player with a lot of dreams, ambitions, concerns.
Because before you get to that time, for a week, you don't sleep.
For me it was an absolute upheaval.
It's as if my life has changed.
It is both an anguish and a selfish pleasure, but in my life I have not experienced anything so strong, nothing so violent.
You experienced this ordeal with the trotting president's cap for the first time in 2020. How did you feel then?
Conversely, last year, as president of the Trot, I was alongside the professionals who do a job of absolute complexity, that is to say, organize hundreds of sequences. It goes from welcoming the public to welcoming VIPs, including the parade, the track, etc. You see incredible efficiency. We have an event once a year, but when you're behind the machines, you get the impression that the teams are doing it every day. At 8 pm, you breathe because it went well but you also want to congratulate your teams who have done a wonderful job. More than a thousand employees work on the site that day. In conclusion, if I can give you some advice, don't be president or journalist on this day, because the emotions experienced as an actor are incredible
(laughs)
.