Horse Racing in India

Horse racing in India is a century-old institution with a calendar that stretches from the monsoon meetings in Kolkata and Pune to the winter classics in Mumbai. This page is the overview: who can take part, where the courses are, how the seasons fit together, and what a day at the track actually looks like. For the detail on placing bets, read our page on betting on horse races in India, and for the big race days themselves, see major horse races in India.

Who can take part

Anyone aged 18 or older can walk into a race course, buy a tote ticket and watch the racing. The age rule is enforced at the betting points rather than the gates: at the RWITC courses in Mumbai and Pune, children under 18 are not permitted to place tote bets or to enter the bookmaker's ring³. The same 18-plus rule applies at the tote windows and bookmakers' ring generally⁵.

On the legal side, betting on horse racing is considered a game of skill rather than chance, a classification supported by the Supreme Court of India, and a license is typically required where it is permitted under state law⁶. Alongside state-run lotteries, rummy and the casinos of two states, horse racing is one of the few legally recognized forms of gambling in India⁷. The Supreme Court noted as far back as 1959 that horse races are allowed throughout India and that the state derives revenue from them⁸. In practice, this means the licensed turf clubs can operate their tote pools openly, and you can bet at the track without worry. For the wider picture of what is and is not permitted, see our guide to gambling in India.

Where you can bet: state by state

Racing is concentrated at six historic clubs, each running its own course and tote.

The Hyderabad Race Club races at Malakpet, where bookmakers operate alongside the tote with a minimum transaction of Rs 60 win or place².

You do not have to be at the course itself. The RWITC runs off-course betting centers, with five in Mumbai and five in Pune, where you can bet on races being held elsewhere¹³. Live telecasts and replays of races held in Bangalore, Mysore, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Delhi are offered at RWITC venues, so an afternoon at Mahalaxmi can include the whole country's racing¹.

Online betting on horse racing

The clubs have taken their tote operations online. The Royal Calcutta Turf Club runs its betting through rctconline.com, where you can see upcoming race days and download the prospectus for each meeting¹². Mysore Race Club offers live streaming of its races to patrons who register at mysoreraceclub.com, paying a fee of Rs 1,000 per race day⁴. Bangalore Turf Club sells the same kind of subscription, Rs 1,000 for one Bangalore race day, and publishes results and tote dividends for both Bangalore and Mysore¹⁴.

One thing to be aware of: offshore betting sites that offer horse racing to Indian customers operate in a gray area. A 2025 amendment to the IT rules prohibits offering online money games in India irrespective of whether the game is based on skill, chance, or both¹⁶. The club-run platforms described above are the safe route: they are the licensed operators of the sport itself. For more detail on how tote betting works online and off, see betting on horse races in India.

The racing calendar and seasons

The Indian racing year is built so that the action moves with the weather.

Mumbai (November to April). Mahalaxmi Race Course is the flagship venue, home to the five Indian Classics: the 1000 Guineas, 2000 Guineas, Oaks, Derby and St Leger, plus the Poonawalla Multimillion. The Indian Derby is run on the first Sunday of February and is the biggest race day in the country¹⁷. Race days are Thursdays and Sundays from November to March, then Saturdays and Sundays in April¹.

Pune (July to mid-November). When the monsoon ends in Mumbai, racing moves to Pune Race Course at 6, Arjun Marg, with races on Saturdays and Sundays¹. The 2026 meeting ran from July 17 to November 15¹⁹. Highlights include the Pune Derby, the RWITC Gold Cup, the Independence Cup and the Southern Command Cup, and the course also hosts the annual sales of 2-year-olds in February²⁰.

Bangalore (two seasons). Bangalore Turf Club programs about 65 days of racing a year over Summer and Winter seasons spread across 8 months⁹. The club is also a pioneer in another sense: it started the joint jackpot pool in association with the Madras Racing Undertaking, and the RWITC and RCTC have since joined, meaning jackpot bets at any of these clubs feed the same national pool⁹.

Mysore (August to October, plus mini seasons). The Mysore Race Club's main season runs from August through October, with two mini seasons added on either side¹⁰. The course sits at the foothills of the Chamundi Hills, one of the prettier settings in Indian racing²¹.

Chennai and Hyderabad. The Madras Race Club races at Guindy in Chennai, with a season that includes sweepstakes races such as the Madras Race Club Commemoration Cup and the Christmas Cup for 2-year-old Indian horses²². A typical Guindy card runs eight races from about 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm²³. Hyderabad races at Malakpet under the Hyderabad Race Club².

Kolkata. The Royal Calcutta Turf Club runs a monsoon season and a cold weather season, with prospectuses published for each, and Saturday race days at the Calcutta Race Course¹².

For the feature races worth planning a trip around, see major horse races in India.

Bet types at the tote

The tote (totalisator) is the club-operated betting pool, and the bet types are broadly the same across the country. At Mumbai and Pune, the principal bet types are Win, Place, Jackpot, Super Jackpot, Treble, Forecast, Quinella, Tanala and the Second Horse Pool²⁵. Kolkata offers Win, Place, Quinella, Tanala, Treble and Jackpot, and Chennai offers the same set plus Forecast²⁵. Bangalore's pools include Win, Place, Second Horse, Forecast, Quinella, Tannala, Exacta and Jackpot¹⁴.

A quick guide to the main ones:

• Win: your horse finishes first.
• Place: your horse finishes in the top three in a race with 7 or more declared starters, or first or second in a race with 4 to 6 starters²⁶.
• Forecast: pick the first two horses in the correct order; Quinella is the same two horses in either order.
• Treble: pick the winners of three designated races.
• Jackpot: pick the winners of a longer sequence of designated races, which is why the pools grow so large.

When you reach the tote window, you need five things: the race meeting (the center where the race runs), the race number, the amount of money, the type of bet, and the number of the horse⁵. You can bet at variable tote odds, where the dividend depends on how much is in the pool, or at fixed tote odds²⁷. Dividends are declared per unit bet from the net pool divided by the number of winning unit bets²⁸.

One number worth knowing: Bangalore Turf Club has the lowest gross deductions in the country, at 2.5 percent on win, place and second horse pools, which means more of the money staked comes back to bettors⁹.

For a full walkthrough of placing a bet, reading the odds and collecting winnings, see betting on horse races in India.

What a race day is like

A day at an Indian race course is a relaxed, family-friendly afternoon out, and the atmosphere is more like a picnic ground than a betting shop.

A typical card runs seven or eight races at half-hour intervals. At Guindy in Chennai, for example, the first race goes off at 1:30 pm and the last at 5:00 pm, with races ranging from 1200 to 2400 meters²³. The first race at Pune inter-venue meetings also starts at 1:00 pm²⁵.

Getting in is cheap. At Bangalore Turf Club, the historic admission charge for both stand and club memberships was Rs 20, with men paying and women entering free⁹. The enclosures are divided into stand and club membership areas, and the bigger days, especially the Indian Derby at Mahalaxmi, draw huge crowds with prize giveaways and a festival air; a Mercedes car has been given away on Indian Derby day²⁹.

Between races you can watch the horses in the paddock, and the Kolkata club offers clubbing facilities, a health club, dining, a gym and a paddock lounge for members¹². If you cannot make it in person, the streaming subscriptions at Mysore and Bangalore (Rs 1,000 per race day) let you watch the full card from home⁴.

A few practical points for a first visit:

• Bring photo ID; you need to be 18 to bet, and the clubs check at the betting points³.
• Cash is still king at the tote windows, though the online club platforms accept digital payments¹².
• If you have a dispute over a transaction at Hyderabad, complaints must be reported immediately in writing to the Chief Operating Officer or Secretary at the Hyderabad Race Club office².
• Contact details if you want to plan ahead: Mysore Race Club, Post Box No 11, Race Course Road, Mysore-570010, phone 0821-2521675, email secretary@mysoreraceclub.com³⁰; Madras Race Club, Guindy, Chennai-600 032, phone 044-22351171/72/73/75 and 22350774, email secretary@madrasraceclub.com¹¹; Bangalore Turf Club, P.O. Box No 5038, Race Course Road, Bangalore 560 001³¹; Royal Calcutta Turf Club, 2A Bakery Road, Hastings, Kolkata 700022³².