The Guindy Race Course is a

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, 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 basic p ...

course set up in 1777 in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. 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 Chengalpattu, previously known as Chingleput, is a city and the headquarters of Chengalpattu district of the state Tamil Nadu, India. The town is located near to the industrial and IT hub. It is the headquarters of the district and is away fr ...

dated 22 June 1825. The land was taken from the Adyar villages of Venkatapuram and

Velachery Velachery (''pronounced as'' veh·luh·cheh·ree) is a commercial and residential area in south Chennai, and is the largest commercial centre in south Chennai. It is surrounded by Guindy in the north, IIT Madras in the north-east, Taramani in ...

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

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 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 att ...

, 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 ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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 The Venkatagiri estate was an estate in the erstwhile Madras Presidency. It was located in the Nellore district of the present-day Andhra Pradesh. The town of Venkatagiri was the administrative headquarters. History Medieval times The kingdom w ...

. 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 The Royal Calcutta Turf Club (RCTC) is a horse racing organisation which was founded in 1847 in Calcutta, British India (now Kolkata). Horse events and sports were initially organised for the British cavalry at Akra before they were moved to the ...

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