An Iraqi jockey strokes his horse as he prepares for a race

Iraq’s only horse racing track has survived war, violence, looting and fire to remain open almost without a break for more than 80 years.

A small crowd of spectators at Baghdad’s Equestrian Club cheered as they moved toward the winner’s enclosure.

Others sauntered over to collect their winnings or pored over the list of runners in the next race, featuring contenders named Lover, Cordoba and Sharqiya.

There were just a few hundred enthusiasts gathered at Iraq’s only horse racing track on a recent afternoon, perhaps reflecting that gambling of any kind is a pleasure forbidden by Islam.

The track in the west of the city has nevertheless been open almost continuously for more than 80 years.

It has survived wars, foreign invasions, religious edicts ordering its closure, and most recently persevered through the black years of sectarian violence in Baghdad in the wake of the 2003 US-led invasion.

But while the Iraqi capital was mired in terrifying conflict tantamount to civil war between Shiites and Sunni Arabs, forcing the closure of clubs and other places of entertainment, the track, incredibly, shut only briefly.

“This is the only place in the country where you can find national unity,” joked Mohammed Baha, the track’s security chief.

The former state-operated club, now owned by a consortium of Shiite and Sunni businessmen, had to close for three months in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime six years ago.

It endured looting and a fire. State subsidies were cancelled overnight, and the club found itself facing bankruptcy when horse owners and managers came to the rescue, General Secretary Taleb Abdul Hussein said.

‘Now it’s really chaotic’

“After the collapse of the regime, horse owners and track council members began to finance the club on their own. Now it is better - not great, but better,” said Hussein, who has worked in racing for 40 years.

Hussein credits support from the racing community for the club’s ability to survive the tough times, adding that club revenues come to about 32 million dinars (US$27,600) a month.

“We are a very small and very close community. We persevered through our own friendships, resolving problems on our own.”

Despite the Middle East’s centuries-old tradition of horsemanship, course racing in Iraq only dates back to the 1920s, when it was introduced by British colonialists and grew to be popular with the rich and famous.

Late president Saddam was particularly fond of horses. According to Mohsin Abed Hussein, the former veterinary surgeon for Saddam’s 150 horses, he was the “best horseman in the family.”

His son Uday, on the other hand, showed scant interest in the sport despite being president of the Equestrian Club.

“It was a ceremonial post. Uday didn’t come once to the track,” said Saad al-Jaburi, a retired army general who is the club’s chief steward.

The club’s fortunes were, however, already waning by 1995, when Iraq’s ravaged state coffers were feeling the full effect of UN sanctions. The sun set on the country’s golden age of racing long ago, many trainers and jockeys say.

“The racing in the 1970s was fantastic compared to now,” said Qaduri Hamid Mohammed, 72, the trainer of Rose of Ali and a string of champion mounts.

“The quality of people in attendance was great, and the racing was so well organized, with many delegations coming from abroad. Horse racing was well respected and it was upper class,” he said.

“Now it’s really chaotic; anyone can just approach the track. And the course is made of dust instead of the grass there used to be.”

Mohammed’s jockey, Firas Majeed, 32, who will add 100,000 dinars ($85.80) to his 80,000-dinar-a-month salary for riding the five-year-old European thoroughbred to victory, nevertheless agreed that times were very tough.

“We used to have good salaries, insurance, cars, flats. But now we have nothing,” he said.

Source: AFP