Great prize-money, easy travelling and dawn raids from the taxman: what I've learned from training in France

In light of Adam West’s shock decision to relocate to France, the Racing Post has spoken to West and other trainers who made the move to find out what motivated them and how they have found the experience. Here, Grade 1-winning trainer Nick Williams reveals what he has learned from his experiences.

• 'The business model is ten times better when you move to France - but you've still got to be successful'

The better prize-money is often cited as the main reason for a trainer making the move. The main reason for this is that the funding models in the two countries are so vastly different. Nearly double the amount of money is bet on British racing annually, yet the latest levy yield of £105 million pales into comparison next to the €835m (£697m) that is ploughed into racing in France. You don’t need to be Einstein to realise that something’s not quite right.

It’s the UK model which is the odd man out, and out of step with all major racing jurisdictions in the world, not the French model. It’s the UK alone which can’t fund prize-money from gambling revenues. It’s this single problem which has a knock-on effect throughout British racing, in particular the fact that racecourses are required to help fund prize-money. Consequently, racecourses often don’t have the funds available to provide better facilities. In the circumstances, recent criticism for the time racecourses are taking to improve weighing rooms is a bit harsh as I don’t imagine they have a lot of spare cash sloshing around – and until the funding model is corrected, that problem is here to stay.