"Cet amoureux du cheval inaugurera cet hippodrome bien avant la construction de l'église."

Hi Ed,

This is my take on it.

The scene is set in 1861 using the historical present (a common literary device in French) - "En 1861, le Duc de Morny crée Deauville." (Note the provided translation reverts to the past tense which is more usual in English)

Given that we are now in 1861 any subsequent events will be described in the future even though, relative to today, they are in the past.

Hope this makes sense.

Tom

The speaker is referencing 1861. Tom is correct. It's as if we might say, "it is December 1773 in Boston where the Sons of Liberty will protest English tea taxation"