The first horse race known took place in “La Alameda” of Osuna, in 1835. The Duke of Osuna is known as the father of the Spanish turf, since his family was very passionate about horses and they had a big property with a lot of them.
Ten years later new races were taking place in the The Country House Race Course . There weren't any serious regulations yet; besides, the race calendar was tiny. The horse races were a small spectacle during the XIX century and the beginning of the XX.
Before the Zarzuela Race Course was open, the horse races in Madrid had already celebrated a century of history. In the summer of 1934, the construction of this race course was approved. The construction was interrupted during the Civil War, when it was destroyed. Finally, in 1940, the reconstruction began and, in May 1941, the Zarzuela Race Course was opened. During the first ten years, Zarzuela had only a minimum of services and the facilities needed to carry on the races.
In 1951, the “handicap” was created, free for horses from three years old and more, and in 1952 the Derby (Prize Conde of Villapadierna), was instituted and the Oaks (Prize Ramon Beamonte), so the Spanish race program started to have, since then, a classic calendar following the European model. In 1954, the sixth race was added to the program, increasing the number of races per day.
In the following years they keep on making improvements in the race course: the money to pay prizes is duplicated, the fifth bet is created (that can be placed from outside the race course), a new sand training track is made, the facilities for the jockeys and the infirmary are finished, a new general tribune is made and a photo camera is bought.
In 1968, the Madrid big Prize gives out a million of pesetas in prizes for the first time. In the 70's, the races in Madrid reach their heyday, because the first race with boxes takes place, the steeple-chase track is made, the bet totallizer is installed, anti doping controls are done and a prize for the fourth is installed in every category.
The Property Association is founded in the early 80's and, since it takes over the management of the race course, it installs the Quiniela Hípica (QH), that is the first national bet game in the History of horse races in Spain. At first, the collection went up to 5000 million pesetas in one season. Even though Televisión Española televised it and the number of proprietors increased a lot, the QH recinto started to decay and, in 1991, its last year, the bets barely reached 510 million pesetas.
In 2003, throughout some difficult years, the National Patrimony and the Hipódromo de la Zarzuela S.A. signed an agreement giving them the total operation for the next 25 years.
The Hipódromo de la Zarzuela is a reference enclosure for international turf, as important jockeys and horses have competed in it.
MediaGambling Staff
