Perak Turf Club

If Selangor is Malaysia's premier racecourse, Perak is its most romantic. Set against the dramatic limestone backdrop of Ipoh, with the peaks of the Main Range rising behind the home straight, the Perak Turf Club is one of the country's last great green spaces and a genuine piece of living heritage. It was here, more than any other venue, that horse racing in Malaya began — and it is here that the sport's modern struggle to stay relevant is being fought most openly.

The cradle of Malayan racing

Perak's racing tradition reaches back to 1886, when the first meetings were held at Taiping, then the state capital. Its founding is associated with Sir Frank Swettenham, the British Resident and a keen horseman, and the Taiping course came to be regarded as the cradle of racing in what was then Malaya.

As Ipoh overtook Taiping in importance, racing followed. The sport shifted to Ipoh in the early twentieth century, and the club was officially constituted under its present name in 1926, becoming custodian of the racing tradition begun four decades earlier. It has raced at its Ipoh home, on Jalan Raja Di Hilir, ever since.

The grandstand that defines it

Perak's signature is its grandstand — built in the late 1960s, designed by Australian architects and officially opened by the Sultan of Perak on 1 February 1971. Its distinctive 180-foot twin towers overlooking the winning post remain one of Ipoh's most recognisable buildings and a favourite of photographers. Against the green of the track and the grey limestone of Gunung Korbu beyond, it gives Perak a sense of place no other Malaysian course can match.

A sport in decline — and a bold response

The romance sits alongside a hard reality. Perak's chairman has spoken candidly about the collapse in raceday crowds: in the sport's heyday, horses came from Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Singapore, hotels filled up, and around 7,000 people packed the course. Today a raceday might draw closer to 700. Remote viewing, phone and app betting, and illegal bookies who undercut the official Tote have all eaten into the on-course experience.

Rather than fade quietly, the club has chosen reinvention. Its RM6 million "More Than Racing" initiative is repositioning the vast grounds as a lifestyle and recreational hub: a refurbished grandstand, a swimming pool and gymnasium, sports courts, restaurants and a café outlet, repurposed stables, and non-racing memberships aimed at families and a younger crowd. The bet is that a racecourse can survive by becoming more than a place to bet — a community destination that keeps the racing heritage alive at its centre.

From 7,000 on a raceday to 700 — and a RM6 million wager that the way to save a racecourse is to make it about more than the races.

Opportunity in Singapore's closure

The winding-down of Singapore's Kranji racecourse, far from being only a regional loss, is something Perak sees as an opening. With fewer turf clubs left standing in the region, the club aims to position itself as a destination for racing enthusiasts and former members of the closing clubs — attracting new visitors and capitalising on renewed interest. Alongside Selangor, Perak is part of a Malaysian racing scene that suddenly finds itself with less competition and more regional significance than it has had in decades.

Racing at Perak today

Perak runs a busy but smaller calendar than Selangor — on the order of 20 to 30 on-course race days a year, scheduled on weekends that alternate with Selangor's so the two clubs rarely clash. The club stables around 150 racehorses, and broadcasts its races to local and international jurisdictions, while streaming races from the other Malayan Racing Association clubs and overseas on off-course days.

Visiting Perak Turf Club

The racecourse sits on Jalan Raja Di Hilir in Ipoh, an easy addition to a trip built around the city's celebrated food and heritage. Even on a non-raceday, the grounds and that twin-tower grandstand are worth seeing, and the "More Than Racing" facilities are designed to give non-bettors a reason to visit. On racedays, the format mirrors the rest of Malaysian racing: buy a programme, study the card, and place your bets through the Tote. If it's your first time at any Malaysian course, our day at the races guide walks through the whole experience.

Perak is one of two Malaysian courses still racing. For the full picture, read about Selangor Turf Club, the premier venue, and the historic Penang Turf Club — the oldest of the three, now closed.