Birth of Bangalore Turf Club

Birth of Bangalore Turf Club - One morning in December 1 1920, four stewards met at the grandstand of the Turf Club's present location in High Grounds. They were: Major R.H.O.D Paterson, Sir Leslie Miller, Major J.M Holmes and C.N Suryanarain Row. These gentlemen approved to form a race club in the city.There were to be 30 club members. The Stewards could elect an unlimited number of stand members. The admission charges for both types of memberships was Rs 20. Men were required to pay while entry was free for women. The rules of the Bangalore Race Club were framed in three months. These rules were read and passed at the March 13, 1921 Stewards meeting held at the United Services Club. It was also decided that additional races held in July should should be closed to the members of the United Sevices Club, Madras Club, Madras Race Club, Ooty club and Bangalore Turf Club. On May 20, 1921, the BTC was inaugurated at a general meeting.
The committee elected under the new club's rules comprised of Col.J. Desaraj Urs, Maj. R.H. O.D Paterson (Poona Horse), Sir Leslie Miller, Lt. Col. C.S. Rome (Queen's Bays), Lt. Col. C. Gaunt and Lt. Col. H. Comes. Other members elected by the stewards were C.N. Suryanarain Row, Aga Abbas Ali and Shirley Tremeane.The meeting decided the lands held by the stewards since the 1916 agreement (when an agreement was drawn up with the Maharaja of Mysore enabling the Stewards of the Bangalore races to hold the race course lands!) must now be assigned to the newly elected committee. Accordingly, on September 9, 1923 the lands were perpetually leased to the Bangalore Turf Club by the Maharaja's government. The agreement read, "The said lands will be held in the sole possession of the Race Club Committee so long as they are utilized for a Race Course. The secretary at that time was H. Donne. Race books dating from 1905 show that he had been serving the sport in Bangalore for at least 15 years before the club was formed.