Ooty Racecourse, Nilgiris
Ooty Racecourse is a
highland race course, located in Ooty Town in Ooty Taluk of Nilgiris District
of Tamilnadu. It is built for summer racing in the hills. The course
stands at an altitude of 2,268 m above sea level. The race course is
adjacent to the railway station in the heart of town. The races are conducted
in the summer season, from April to June, when it has been traditional to come
to the hill station to escape the summer heat. The course occupies over 55
acres in the centre of Ooty.
The course is about 2.4 km long
and is one of the most famous race courses in India. The main event of the
racing season is "The Nilgiri Gold Cup Race", a traditional and
popular race. To commemorate 125 years of racing in this hill station, a
special race for "The Post Centenary Silver Jubilee Cup" was run in
2011. A fire occurred at the race course in March 2011, believed to have been
started by a cigarette butt, but was put out without harm to the horses.
Ooty Racecourse is located at
about 500 meters from Ooty Bus Stand, 500 meters from Ooty Railway Station, 1.5
Kms from Ooty, 20 Kms from Coonoor, 30 Kms from Kotagiri, 51 Kms from Mettupalayam
Railway Station, 84 Kms from Coimbatore and 88 Kms from Coimbatore Airport.
Ooty is well connected to Coimbatore, Kerala and Karnataka.
Location
