Veliefendi 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 ...

track located at Veliefendi neighborhood in

Bakırköy Bakırköy is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district in the European part of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 29 km2, and its population is 226,685 (2022). Bakırköy lies between the State road D.100 (Turkey), D.100 highway (l ...

district of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It is the country's oldest and biggest race course founded on a former grassland that was historically a farm belonging to Şeyhülislam

Veliyyüddin Efendi Veliyyüddin Efendi, also known as Veli Efendi or Ekşiaşzâde or Imad-ı Rûm, was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Ulama, scholar and Calligraphy, calligrapher of the 17th and 18th centuries and was twice Shaykh al-Islām, Sheikh al-Islam of the Ottom ...

, an 18th-century superior authority of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. The race course was constructed in the years 1912/13 by German specialists upon the initiative of

Enver Pasha İsmâil Enver (; ; 23 November 1881 – 4 August 1922), better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish people, Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and Istanbul trials of 1919–1920, convicted war criminal who was a p ...

. The race course hosts also music events. In 2006, Turkish pop singer Nez held a concert.

Physical attributes

The race course covers an area of consisting of facilities for racing, training and barns. The race course has three interleaved tracks as: *a long and wide turf oval, *a long and wide synthetic track for all-weather racing and *a long and wide sand oval for training. The track's seating capacity is 7,600. The complex comprises offices, a museum, an exhibition hall, a racehorse hospital, an apprentice training center as well as social and recreational facilities.

Major races

Gazi Race The Gazi Race () is a Turkish thoroughbred horse flat race that is established in honor of the founder of the Turkish Republic Gazi Mustafa Kemal. It is country's most prestigious horse racing event, which is held uninterruptedly since its est ...

(Gazi Koşusu), is the most prestigious Turkish Oaks, and is held since 1927 in memory of

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

, who was awarded the honorific title "Gazi" ( Ghazi). Initially run in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, the event was later transferred to Veliefendi Race Course. The award is about TL 1.4 million (approx. US$850,000 as of June 2011), and since 1970 is accompanied with a silver equestrian statue of Atatürk. *Prime Minister's Race (Başbaşkanlık Koşusu) is a Turkish Oaks held since 1951. The winner is awarded TL 1,105,000 (approx. US$330,000 as of July 2018) and a trophy bestowed by the Turkish prime minister.

Incidents

During a race on July 31, 1949, four race horses, including two favourite horses, did not leave the starting gate upon the referee's start sign, and were disqualified. The bettors protested against a possible swindle by the referees and the racehorse owners, and demanded a rerun. As the referee commission rejected the demand, the crowd set the referee tower, the bleachers, the administration and box offices on fire. In July 1953, bettors threw stones towards horsemen and beat a jockey named Muhacir Ahmet (literally: Ahmet The Immigrant) whom they believed to have swindled. Two years later local newspapers published news about swindles at Veliefendi Race Course, and during a race on July 13, 1955, the bettors stoned the administration building, and Muhacir Ahmet was beaten once again. In 2008, the track held its first-ever farewell ceremony for a racehorse, honoring Ribella, a popular mare.

References

{{coord, 40.98709, N, 28.88881, E, type:landmark, display=title Horse racing venues in Turkey Sports venues in Istanbul Music venues in Istanbul Sport in Zeytinburnu Event venues established in 1913 1913 establishments in the Ottoman Empire