The Hippodrome of Santa Beatriz ( es, Hipódromo de Santa Beatriz) was a hippodrome located in

Jesús María District, Lima Jesús María is one of the most centrally located districts of Lima, Peru. It is an upper class, high-density district and it usually ranks in the top districts with the best quality of life in Peru with an HDI of 0.8372 (2019), only behind the ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. Now almost completely demolished, its former premises are now occupied by El Campo de Marte.

History

The concession for a 99-year emphyteusis was granted by the

Municipality of Lima The Metropolitan Municipality of Lima ( es, Municipalidad Metropolitana de Lima) is the local government entity of the Lima Province and Lima District. It is the only provincial municipality of special regime with faculties of regional government. ...

in the

estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representat ...

(''fundo'') of the same name at the request of the Lima Jockey Club (LJC) during the late 19th century, in exchange for some territory owned by the club in

downtown Lima Lima is a district of Lima Province in Peru. Lima district is the oldest in Lima Province and as such, vestiges of the city's colonial era remain today in the historic centre of Lima, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988 and ...

. The

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...

racecourse was then inaugurated in July of 1903 under the tenure of Alfredo Benavides Diez-Canseco (then president of the LJC), operating until 1938, with its golden age coinciding with the Centennial of the Independence of Peru (and that of the Battle of Ayacucho), from 1921 to 1924. The

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

held in 1903 featured important guests, such as mayor Federico Elguera, who delivered a speech to the packed tribunes, and María Diez Canseco de Benavides (the "godmother" of the ceremony), who broke a Champagne bottle with a hammer to baptise the building as part of the event. Also attending was the diplomatic corps resident in Lima, as well as other government officials. On 30 April 1933, Peruvian President

Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro (August 12, 1889 – April 30, 1933) was a high-ranking Peruvian army officer who served as the 41st President of Peru, from 1931 to 1933 as well as Interim President of Peru, officially as the President of the Pro ...

was shot dead in the racetrack while reviewing troops from the Peruvian Army; 15 days later, his successor, Óscar Benavides, met with the head of the Colombian Liberal Party,

Alfonso López Pumarejo Alfonso López Pumarejo (31 January 1886 – 20 November 1959) was a Colombian political figure, who twice served as President of Colombia, as a member of the Colombian Liberal Party. He served as President of Colombia for the first time between ...

, to secure an agreement to turn Leticia over to a

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

commission, ending the

Colombia–Peru War The Colombia–Peru War, also called the Leticia War, was a short-lived armed conflict between Colombia and Peru over territory in the Amazon rainforest that lasted from September 1, 1932 to May 24, 1933. In the end, an agreement was reached to d ...

. After president

Augusto B. Leguía Augusto Bernardino Leguía y Salcedo (February 19, 1863 – February 6, 1932) was a Peruvian politician who served as President of Peru from 1908 to 1912 and from 1919 to 1930, the latter term known as ''El Oncenio de Leguía'' (Leguía's E ...

—who had granted territory to the racecourse during his presidency—was ousted from power, the 2,400 m racetrack was reduced to its original 1,600 m length. The city's growth determined the racecourse's fate, with , then president of the LJC, managing to reach a deal with then president

Óscar R. Benavides Óscar Raymundo Benavides Larrea (March 15, 1876 – July 2, 1945) was a Peruvian field marshal, diplomat, and politician who served as the 38th (1914 – 1915, by a coup d'etat) and 42nd (1933 – 1939) President of Peru. Early life He was b ...

, where a new racecourse would occupy another territory under the terms of the original lease, while the territories granted for the first hippodrome's construction would be returned to the club. The terrain chosen for the new racetrack was located next to

Salaverry Avenue Salaverry is a port town located southeast of Trujillo city in the La Libertad Region, Peru. It is the capital of Salaverry District and it is located at around . The port, rebuilt in the 1960s by an English company, is able to accommodate lar ...

, where the

Hipódromo de San Felipe The Hippodrome of San Felipe ( es, Hipódromo de San Felipe) was a hippodrome located next to Salaverry Avenue in Jesús María District, Lima, Peru. It was preceded by the racetrack in Santa Beatriz, disestablished with the expansion of the ci ...

was built in the ''fundo'' of the same name.

References

{{coord missing, Peru Horse racing venues in Peru History of Lima Historicist architecture Jesús María District, Lima

History

See also

References