The Guindy Race Course is a

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

course set up in 1777 in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is the oldest race course in India. It hosts events in the winter season.

History

In 1777, 81 cawnies (1 cawni = 57,499 sq. ft.) 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 Velachery is a neighborhood of Chennai. It is located in the southern part of the Chennai city sharing borders with Guindy in the north, Taramani in the east, Perungudi in the south-east, Pallikaranai wetland, Pallikaranai in the south, Madipa ...

. Soon after racing had begun in the 1770s, it became irregular and almost stopped due to the invasion of

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali (''Haidar'alī''; ; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's ...

, 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 Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

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 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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.

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. All race clubs in India followed their own racing rules till G. Jayaraman, the Manager of Madras Race Club, harmonised the racing rules of all the race clubs of India by 1993.

References

{{Sport venues in Tamil Nadu Sport in Chennai Horse racing in India Horse racing venues in India Buildings and structures in Chennai Sports venues in Chennai 1777 establishments in India Sports venues completed in 1777