Philatelic document - 190 ans des Courses de Trot

190 years of trotting A reading of the Calendrier des Courses de chevaux, edited by the Englishman Thomas Bryon, on September 25, 1836, reveals an account of the Races de la Manche held in Cherbourg. As early as 1830, the young stud farm inspector Éphrem Houël had to fight hard to bring his project to fruition: to set up competitions in Normandy exclusively reserved for trotting. His initiative finally came to fruition thanks to the support of a wine merchant, Mr. Le Magnen, keen to attract an English clientele. The first events were held on Collignon beach. In 1837, the town of Caen followed suit and contributed to the development of trotting races in Normandy. This momentum led, on October 21, 1864, to the creation of the Société d'encouragement pour l'amélioration du cheval français de demi-sang, a founding institution in the history of French trotting. The adventure really took off. The French trotter gradually won its place and, in 1879, was given its rightful place in Paris, on the Vincennes racecourse, which has since become the world's leading trotting venue.

Timbre-poste (héliogravure), timbre à date et document philatélique : Mise en page par Emmanuel VEDRENNE d'après création de Wandrille THIEULIN Texte : Alain PAGES