Guindy Race Course

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The Guindy Race Course is a horse racing

course set up in 1777 in Chennai, India. It
is the oldest race course in India. It hosts
events in the winter season.
 Guindy Race Course

Location Guindy, Chennai

Coordinates 13.00472°N 80.21624°E

Owned by Madras Race Club

Date opened 1777

History
In 1777, 81 cawnies of land were granted
by the government to conduct races, which
is mentioned in a letter written by the then
Collector of Chingleput dated 22 June
1825. The land was taken from the Adyar
villages of Venkatapuram and Velachery.
Soon after racing had begun in the 1770s,
it became irregular and almost stopped
due to the invasion of Hyder Ali, who came
within striking distance of Madras. A few
years later, 35 cawnies were added and
two race courses came up—a smaller one
to train horses and the other with a stand
to watch the races.

Madras Race Club

The Madras Race Club was officially
constituted in 1837. The club functioned
till 1875, when the Prince of Wales Edward
VII visited Madras. Racing again went
through a tough phase owing to financial
reasons. Finally, in 1887, the club was
revived. A balance of 11 rupees, 13 annas
and 12 paise was carried forward to a new
club called Madras Race Club with 50
members in January 1896. In 1887, a
public meeting was called by Lt. Col. G. M.
Moore, one of the stewards and it was
presided over by the governor. New
stewards were appointed at this meeting
to run the club. The funds managed by the
stewards of the Madras races were
handed over to the club. The Trades Cup
formed part of the racing programme
proving that the traders patronised racing.

Racing continued in the 1900s although on

a low key. It was brought to a temporary
halt by World War I till Lord Willingdon, the
then governor of Madras, revived it in
1919. In 1920, a stand was constructed
with funds provided by two patrons,
Maharaja of Bobbili and Maharaja of
Venkatagiri. In 1931, the Guindy Lodge
was built in the club premises for the
secretary, and in 1933, the weighing room
was constructed. Till 1952-1953, the
Madras Race Club was under the Calcutta
Turf Club after which it came, like all race
courses in the south, under the South India
Turf Club. Classic races were introduced in
1958-1959. In 1966, the Madras Race Club
became an independent turf authority.
Soon, as each one gained a separate
status, the South India Turf Club became
redundant.[1]

The club today

The club now has about 625 horses in
station, three stands and boasts of the
best race track in the country. The racing
season begins in November and goes on
till March after which races are conducted
in Ooty between April and June. A
monsoon season has been introduced
with races being conducted between
August and October.[1] All race clubs in
India followed their own racing rules till Mr
G Jayaraman, the Manager of Madras
Race Club harmonised the racing rules of
all the race clubs of India by 1993.

References
1. Parthasarathy, Anusha (21 February
2012). "Survivors of time: Madras
Race Club - A canter through
centuries" . The Hindu. Chennai: The
Hindu. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
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Last edited 2 months ago by BrownHairedGirl

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