7 Group 1's Entrance Fee £17

Over here they might pay for a pint and a pie and never mind an entrance fee of goodness know what.

£10 for a poached egg at a gastropub near me.

*monkeybox*

What is our local "chinky"?

Chinese takeaway, impossible.

The prices for most basic food stuff are astronomical these days eg Heinz baked beans. It used to be 60p per tin (sometimes 200p for 4). Now 100p per tin on offer. This is sheer daylight robbery; a large tasty roast chicken from Asda was 550p, now 750p; a portion of chips 240p, was 170p before pandemic.

Anyone taken any of their little ones go-karting? £50 each for 2 lots of 15min spin. And, one has to arrive 40min prior. £50 for 30 mins spin? Crazy. And, the spins are not solo but with others on the track eg other families.

Probably buy you a burger at the BEEFY BOYS

£3 quid for a can of fanta at Brighton.

We've had this discussion before. It can be done in this country, but - you need a Totaliser system, no bookies, no exchanges with all the profits going back into horse racing.

Question is, how many of us want that?

It was 12 euros a pint at Longchamp the last time that I was there, same price for a hot dog and it will have gone up since then.

Complete nonsense

France: PMU monopoly

Media rights payments are not a major contributor to prize-money levels in France as France Galop co-funds the racing channel Equidia with Le Trot, trotting's government body. The country misses out, however, on the broader mainstream coverage offered in Britain and Ireland.

Ticket sales are not a major revenue driver either, partly because entrance fees are low outside the big days and France Galop owns the major tracks, such as Longchamp, Deauville and Chantilly.

Some revenue is generated through sponsorship and corporate hospitality, but these are not a commercial imperative because prize-money is essentially underwritten by the profits of the Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU), the third-largest pool betting service globally.

Of its total turnover, 75 per cent is returned in winning bets, nine per cent goes to the government through tax and eight per cent is split between France Galop and Le Trot, the two major shareholders – in 2019 €760m was returned to racing and trotting, which covered not only prize-money but the cost of staging the sport. The remainder is spent on PMU outgoings and paying commercial partners.

Without fixed-odds betting the wealth of the PMU ensures purses at lower and intermediate levels are better than anywhere else in Europe. The PMU also contributes to generous premiums of up to 70 per cent to winning owners of French-bred horses, regardless of where the owner is based.

For example, Sottsass won €857,100 for landing the 2019 Prix du Jockey Club, plus an extra €203,904 in premiums, while the Hughie Morrison-trained Marmelo won €31,827 on top of €74,100 for winning the Group 2 Prix Maurice de Nieuil in 2018.

French authorities are aware of the financial advantage they have over their nearest neighbours, and investments in a new woodchip track for the main training centre at Chantilly was followed by a €1.5m redevelopment of the training facilities at Maisons-Laffitte.

The message could not be clearer to trainers considering a wholesale move or setting up a satellite operation, and a number of British handlers have already taken advantage, including Tom George, whose son Noel runs their satellite yard in Chantilly. The stable has sent out five winners from 32 runners and has won more than €150,000 this calendar year.