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For many, the only racetrack that Barcelona had was built on the land of the old Estanque del Port, a dried-up piece of land in the primitive port of Barcelona, ??now known as Casa Antúnez. It was inhabited by small fishing villages. But, there is some precedent from other places where horse races were organized in the city.
The tradition of festivals in which the horse was involved in Catalonia dates back to ancient times with the Tres Tombs de Sant Medir in El Vallès or the festival of the muleteers in Balsareny,
The introduction of modern horse riding took place among the upper classes of Barcelona in 1856, when the Círculo Ecuestre was founded, the oldest sports horse club in Spain.
The Círculo Ecuestre was the first to organize the first horse races, in the arena of the Gardens of the Champs Elysees, which were located on the original Camino de Jesús (now Paseo de Gracia).
Subsequently, a temporary hippodrome was built in the Campo de Marte, near the Citadel, where horse races were held on the occasion of the coronation of Amadeo I of Savoy. It was in operation until its demolition in 1871.
After the old racetrack was demolished, some races continued to be held on the land of the Sociedad Agrícola, but the progression of the fans led the city’s horse racing entities to decide to build a new racetrack on the land on the outskirts of the city.
The promoters of the construction of the Casa Antúnez Hippodrome were the Sociedad del Fomento de la Cría Caballar de Catalunya and the Fomento de la Cría del Caballo. His intention was not only to make the world of the horse known to the city, but to obtain with its exploitation the benefits for the maintenance of the two entities.
With an area of ??about 9 hectares, the new racecourse was built by the French Horse Racing Company. It consisted of a main construction that would house the entire sports complex and a small building for race directors and other control personnel.
The main grandstand had a large visor that would protect the spectators from the weather, it consisted of two parts, the one in front for the location of the spectators, divided into several areas of stands and a row of boxes, with exits for the rest area and services.
The service area was grouped at the back of the grandstand, which included: offices, the restaurant, a row of betting booths, various shops, services for both sexes, information service. And a staircase that went down to the pelouse located at ground level on the track.
In one section, the stables and changing rooms of the joqueis were located at ground level. The racing track with a rope 300 meters long and 16 wide had at one end the horse show pelouse.
The racetrack was inaugurated on September 25, 1883, on the occasion of the Merced festivities. In principle it was planned that Alfonso XIII would attend, but an unforeseen event did not allow him to attend the ceremony.
The event was presided over on behalf of His Majesty by the Mayor of Barcelona, ??Francesc Rius y Taulet, who was accompanied by various authorities and personalities from the city and a large number of spectators, who did not want to miss the event, enlivened by the chords of the music bands of the Barcelona Engineers and Artillery regiments.
During the event, the mayor received a call from Alfonso XIII, congratulating the city, the Círculo Ecuestre and the people who filled the stands for the new building inaugurated.
The inauguration was attended by 3,000 people and 300 carriages, being one of the social events of the year. The program of inauguration events was held on September 25, 27 and 30, 1883, beginning at two in the afternoon, with the following program, under the direction of the Sociedad de Fomento de la Cría Caballar de Catalunya, of which His Majesty the King was president.
It would have a prize of 180,000 reais. He would be enlivened by the music of the Engineers and Artillery regiment, which would begin the concerts from one in the afternoon until the end of the races.
The racetrack quickly became a place where the Barcelona bourgeoisie approached in their best clothes at the end of the 19th century.
But the novelty turned into monotony at the beginning of the 20th century. The public began to get tired of visiting the racetrack every holiday, so the leaders, seeing the drop in spectators, organized different shows to motivate them again.
One of the acts that aroused the most interest took place on February 12, 1910, with the completion of the first airplane flight in all of Spain, by the French pilot Julien Mamet aboard a Blériot XI with a 25 CV engine.
The expansion of the port and the Angulo Plan for its realization also threatened the future of the racetrack since 1904 and paralyzed its operation for a time.
In 1917, a new company took over the compound. He reactivated it again by offering horse racing again. Thus began a new phase of activity for the racetrack, which lasted until 1932.
The proclamation of the Republic, the prohibition of gambling and the politicization of public life was a hard blow for society that reduced public attendance, because personal exhibitions were not well regarded and bets were over. The incentive that led the bourgeoisie to horse racing no longer existed.
And the facility closed for good. Two years later it was shot down. The growing expansion of the port called for more spaces for new docks. Since then, Barcelona has not had a racetrack again.
The racetrack was closed in 1934 and the port of Barcelona was left free to seize the old land that once housed this facility that Barcelona had enjoyed.
