As the Royal Calcutta Turf Club (RCTC) gears as much as host Indian horse racing’s most glamorous and prestigious two days of the 12 months on March 2 and three, a have a look at the hallowed historical past of racing within the metropolis and the membership.
The Kolkata racecourse, one of essentially the most stunning and picturesque racecourses within the nation, is surrounded by an expanse of lush greenery with the long-lasting Victoria Memorial as an imposing backdrop.
While there are information of racing relationship again to the 18th century, the formation of the Bengal Jockey Club in 1803 marked the arrival of organised and managed racing in Bengal.
Six years later, racing started on the land the place the racecourse stands right this moment. By 1820, nearly 100 years earlier than the Victoria Memorial was constructed, the primary public stands had come up. These have been situated on the alternative aspect of the racecourse, constructed between the place the 1100 and 1000 metre markers stand right this moment.
It is fascinating to notice that the turf membership was requested to face as one of the guarantors for the Victoria Memorial and it contributed Rs. One lakh in direction of its completion in 1926.
The unique structure supplied a racetrack with a Home Straight which was nearly 600m lengthy as in comparison with the 400m straight now we have right this moment. It was designed thus as a result of in these days, the race conferences have been held within the mornings, and by finding the stands on the japanese fringes, the solar’s rays have been behind them.
On February 22, 1847, the Calcutta Turf Club (CTC) got here into existence and racing flourished.
It was round 1876, after innumerable modifications within the coverage, that conferences have been rescheduled to be run within the afternoon. It due to this fact turned crucial to relocate the stands to the place they’re right this moment – on the western fringe of the racecourse. The stands, which got here up between 1906 and 1921, are the exact same stands which one sees right this moment.
The solely downside as a result of of the change was that the house straight was lowered from 600m to simply about 400 metres which is one of the shortest as in comparison with racecourses wherever on this planet. With a sharp ultimate bend, simply earlier than getting into the house straight, made the Kolkata course one of essentially the most difficult tracks for a jockey and testing his capacity to the intense.
In 1867, the Calcutta Derby Sweep was born. It was like a lottery and amounted then to a pool of Rs. 34,700. This had an impact on a scale that one might by no means have been imagined because it grew to a mind-boggling Rs. 1,25,00,000 in 1929 and 1930. It laid the foundations to the membership’s prosperity and allowed it to keep up a excessive degree of stake cash.
King George V (then the Prince Of Wales), who visited the racecourse in 1905 and 1912, was impressed with what he noticed. As a end result, in 1912, King George determined to provide a ‘royal’ standing to the Calcutta Turf Club. And that’s when it bought the royal brand on prime and have become the ‘Royal Calcutta Turf Club’.
