Veliefendi Race Course
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| Location | Veliefendi, Bakırköy, Istanbul, Turkey
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| Owned by | Jockey Club of Turkey (TJK) |
| Date opened | 1913 |
| Screened on | TJK TV[1] |
| Course type | Flat/Thoroughbred |
| Notable races |
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Veliefendi Race Course (Turkish: Veliefendi Hipodromu) is a horse racing track located at Veliefendi neighborhood in Bakırköy district of Istanbul, Turkey.[2]
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, an 18th-century superior authority of Islam in the Ottoman Empire.[3] The race course was constructed in the years 1912/13 by German specialists upon the initiative of Enver Pasha.[4][5]
The race course hosts also music events. In 2006, Turkish pop singer Nez held a concert.[6]
The race course covers an area of 59.6 ha (147 acres) consisting of facilities for racing, training and barns. The race course has three interleaved tracks as:
- a 2,020 m (2,210 yd) long and 27–36 m (89–118 ft) wide turf oval,
- a 1,870 m (2,050 yd) long and 17.5–19 m (57–62 ft) wide synthetic track for all-weather racing and
- a 1,730 m (1,890 yd) long and 16–17 m (52–56 ft) wide sand oval for training.[7]
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.[7]