This Saturday I visited the ‘Hipodromo Argentino’ (Argentina’s Main Racecourse) for the first time to catch the most important event in the racing calendar, the ‘Gran Premio Nacional’, which is sometimes also known as the ‘Argentine Derby’. I suppose it´s equivalent to the Epsom Derby in the UK or the Kentucky Derby in the US.
The Gran Premio Nacional occurs on a chosen Saturday every mid-November. It was first run in 1884, and it is now an event of ‘National Tourist Interest!’, just like the venue itself, as the security guards kept telling me. The best horses in Argentina compete in the race for the honor of being the best in a country. On the particular time that I attended the race there happened to be an even better horse from Brazil called ‘Eu Tambem’ (nice to see Brazil keeping to their natural Portuguese in naming the horses). This horse went on to win the 2006 Gran Premio Nacional of Argentina much to the annoyance of the mostly jeering home crowd, and more importantly, to me. I had money on the Argentine horse in second to win, and the horse in third (also Argentine), to come in as the top two. I was understandably quite annoyed! Before the race I had discounted the lone Brazilian entry because I knew nothing about the quality of the races it had been winning in Brazil in comparison to those in Argentina. Obviously Brazilian horse racing is not too shabby either!
History: This beautiful race track was inaugurated on the 7th of May, 1876, when a horse called Resbaloso took the honors in the first race, which was watched by 10,000 people. So it was earlier this year that the Hipodromo celebrated its 130th anniversary, as noted by fellow BA blog Trendy Palermo Viejo, in three different languages! These days, in addition to this sport being called ‘Turf’ here in Argentina, almost all of the horses have English names, which means it´s usually fun to hear the racetrack announcer try and fail with the pronunciations (I shouldn’t laugh, my Spanish accent is a lot worse). I think the horses are given English names because the rich, horse owners believe that all things English are a cut above of the rest in terms of class and breeding. Obviously they haven’t met me yet…
The main entrance and stand was built in 1908, with a capacity of 2,000, by a French architect named Faure Dujarric, in the lovely Art Nouveau style of that period that is seen all through Buenos Aires, especially in Recoleta and along Avenida de Mayo in the city center. The Hipodromo has been privately owned since 1992. This probably explains the over-zealous security guards there - I was asked at least 10 times throughout the day to stop taking photos, occasionally in a threatening manner, but I just carried on snapping away because everybody else was. Their reason for the no-photo policy? “It is a national historic monument”. OK…..so that means no one can take pictures of the Pink House, Cabildo or Cathedral? What a load of rubbish. Also inside that building are seemingly miles and miles of underground slot machines. There are in fact more than 2000 of these automated money grabbers - and they are more popular than the horses, in fact that part of the Hipodromo is open 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year. It’s one of those places where you can’t tell what time of day it is, therefore making it easy to lose track of time, or just lose yourself among the miles of slot machines. There is certainly a lot of money in this building, which again may explain the tight security.
Getting there and getting in: This busy place is located at Avenida Libertador 4100 (between Avenida Dorrego and Olleros). You can either get the subway Line D to the Palermo stop, and then walk about 5 blocks along Avenida Intendente Bullrich (and past ‘Jumbo’ supermarket) until you reach Avenida Dorrego, where you will see the Hipodromo across the street and to the left. Or you can get bus 166, which drops you off in that area. Entrance to the Hipodromo costs between AR$1 and AR$10, depending on the day you go and the importance of the race. Not very much for what is a very nice, long day out - races usually start around noon and go right the way into the evening. The races are held every Monday, plus each week either on Friday or Saturday, and also on about one Sunday per month. You can check ahead by calling 4778-2800 (if you speak Spanish) or on www.palermo.com.ar - click ‘Informacion Hipica’ followed by ‘Calendario y Resultados’ for a list of all the race meeting dates, which continue all year round.
How to make a bet in Argentina: It´s pretty easy, even if your Spanish is limited. You need to go to the stalls that say ‘apuestas’, and bet a minimum of 1 peso each time. You do so by saying the number of the horse and how much you want to wager, and if you think it will be ‘a Ganador’ (you win if it wins), ‘a Segundo’ (you win if it finishes first or second, but you get a lot less of a return) or ‘a Tercero’ (you win if it finishes in the first three places, a little less of a return again). If you have problems saying any of this, try writing it down on a piece of paper and handing it to them. For those from the UK, the betting system is the same as the TOTE, with changing odds depending on where the money is going - you can see the odds on the huge analog scoreboard type display located in the middle of the racetrack. To get an idea of the form (past performances of the horses running) before betting, I suggest you buy either the ‘Palermo Rosa’ or ‘Ganador’ magazine, which are both sold outside the entrances to the Hipodromo. Good luck trying to decode them - it can be difficult enough to do that with racing form in English, let alone a foreign language in a country with different racing rules. Well, that was my excuse for losing, anyway…
Special Tip: Watch out for the Brazilian horses - don’t let them ruin your day! Seriously though, just go, have fun, and don’t bet more than you can afford. It really is a great day out, and something that you might not think of when coming to Buenos Aires, especially as it is in an area of Palermo you may not happen across.
