The role of France Galop

Around 1200:  Horse racing begins in England.
1671:  first official meeting at Newmarket.
1750: the Jockey Club, the Flat racing "authority", is founded.
1776: first racecourse opens on the Plaine des Sablons. Fontainebleau and Vincennes follow.
11th November 1833: drafting of the "manifeste", the birth certificate of the "Comité de la Société d'Encouragement pour l'amélioration des races de chevaux en France" (Body to enhance the breeding of horses in France).
15th May 1834:  first race meeting at Chantilly.
1836:  1st Prix du Jockey Club
1840:  first success for a horse from a French stables in England (Beggarman, owned by the Duc d'Orléans, ridden by the Comte de Cambis in the Goodwood Cup).
April 1857: inauguration of Longchamp racecourse.
1865, invention of the “pari mutuel” (tote) by Joseph Oller. Victory of Gladiateur in the English Derby at Epsom.
1874: 1st Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris
1887: bookmakers outlawed.
2nd June 1891: organic law making racing associations answerable to the Ministry of Agriculture.
1912: anti-doping measures introduced (first saliva samples taken)
1920: creation of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. .
1930: creation of the Pari Mutuel Urbain (finance law authorising associations to organise betting outside racetracks)
1954 : creation of the Tiercé.
4th October 1983: new legal status for the PMU which becomes an Economic Interest Grouping.