All races in France since May 11, 2020 which carried a reduced purse due to the COVID-19 pandemic will receive part of their original prizemoney back in the second half of January, France Galop announced on Monday. At the end of 2020, France Galop's funding budget was €185 million instead of €248 million, a 25% decrease due to the two-month period racing ceased in France during the first French lockdown. In August, the France Galop Board of Directors determined that a positive funding result-if there was one–at the end of the year should be redistributed in the form of incentives to partially compensate for the decrease applied from May 11. The expected amount of excess funding is supposed to be greater than €8 million, but France Galop and the PMU are still confirming the amount. The prize money that will be available for each race will increase exactly the same amount in any race, with premiums to owners and breeders also increased. The annual closing of the professional accounts is scheduled for Jan. 12 and then France Galop must proceed to invalidate more than 3200 races before recalculating the allowance and bonuses on all of the affected events. This revaluation of all race winnings will replace the annual revaluation of the owner premium. For more information, please visit www.france-galop.com.
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