Veliefendi Race Course

Veliefendi Race Course
Veliefendi Hipodromu
LocationVeliefendi, Bakırköy, Istanbul, Turkey
Owned byJockey Club of Turkey (TJK)
Date opened1913 (1913)
Screened onTJK TV
Course typeFlat/Thoroughbred
Notable races
  • Gazi Race (since 1927)
  • Prime Minister's Race (since 1951)

Veliefendi Race Course (Turkish: Veliefendi Hipodromu) is a horse racing track located at Veliefendi neighborhood in Bakırköy district of Istanbul, Turkey.

It is the country's oldest and biggest race course founded on a former grassland that was historically a farm belonging to Şeyhülislam Veliyyüddin Efendi, an 18th-century superior authority of Islam in the Ottoman Empire. The race course was constructed in the years 1912/13 by German specialists upon the initiative of Enver Pasha.

The race course hosts also music events. In 2006, Turkish pop singer Nez held a concert.