Argentine Horse Racing Venue of Palermo, horse racing course in Argentina

The Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo is a 60-hectare racecourse in Buenos Aires with a 2,400-metre dirt track 28 metres wide, a 2,200-metre turf course added in 2011, and a Beaux Arts grandstand from 1908 by Louis Faure-Dujarric. Its pale stone gateway on Avenida del Libertador bears the inscriptions "HIPODROMO" and "1876"; the Carlos Pellegrini grandstand portal is carved with "HIPODROMO ARGENTINO" and the dates 1876 and 2004.

The racecourse opened in 1876 and attracted nearly ten thousand spectators to its first event, becoming a major social gathering place. The Argentine Jockey Club took over management in 1884, and shortly after, the Grand National Prize race was established, which remains the most important annual event today.

The name changed to Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo in 1953 after the Peronist government expropriated the racecourses from the Jockey Club. Female jockeys were first introduced in that same decade, and in 1978 Marina Lezcano became the first woman to win the quadruple crown, riding Telescópico. Carlos Gardel owned a thoroughbred named Lunático that raced here.

The grounds cover 60 hectares and are open to the public free of charge around the clock. Races run about three days a week, roughly nine per day, with 120 racing days and 1,400 races a year. The dirt course of 80% sand, 14% limestone and 6% clay drains naturally, so racing continues on rainy days. The main course is 2,400 m round, 28 m wide, with a chute for 1,100 m straight races.

The first race at the course on 7 May 1876 was won by a horse named Resbaloso, before a crowd of close to 10,000 people. The grandstand of that era was designed by Néstor París and seated 1,600 spectators.