Protest Forces Cancellation of Longchamp Card

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Racing at Longchamp was cancelled Sunday after a disturbance caused by patrons protesting not being allowed to wager due to a strike by pari-mutuel workers at the French track.

According to Reuters, a group of approximately 150 protestors invaded the track to protest racing being conducted without wagering. "It's ridiculous that the meeting should take place without us being able to bet," a patron told Reuters.

A Sporting Life report says protestors reached the track itself. Efforts to bus them to off-site wagering facilities failed and racing was then called off two hours after the scheduled start, the report says.

Racing authorities decided to conduct racing after pari-mutuel workers went on strike claiming to have been denied a promised two-percent raise, according to Reuters. Louis Romanet, France Galop's director general, told Sporting Life he was upset the workers decided to strike in the midst of continuing negotiations.

The cancellation forced the postponement of the Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris (Fr-I), which will now be conducted on Tuesday.

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