kayes<kayes@pc.jaring.my>

Horse racing in Perak actually first started in Taiping in 1886. Taiping being the oldest town in the country, it was only logical that many things began there. It was then known as the Taiping Turf Club. In 1926, the present Perak Turf Club was formed in Ipoh at the site on which it still stands. The first Chairman of the Perak Turf Club was F Douglas Osbourne, a familiar name in tin mining. The first non-European Chairman was the late Dato Yeoh Cheang Lee who was my former employer and who taught me a thing or two about horse racing. The current Chariman (since 1982) is Tan Sri V Jeyaratnam, one of the most distinguished racing personalities in the country as well as an established lawyer. Like the present Penang Turf Club in Batu Gantong, Penang, the Perak Turf Club is also very close to many residential bungalows in Ipoh City. While the Penang Turf Club has Komtar as a backdrop, the Perak Turf Club has Gunong Korbu and other limestone hills in the background. A picturesque sight indeed.