@article{2020,title={The First Horse Racing Experiences in the Ottoman Empire: Horse Breeders and Bookmarkers of Buca},abstractNode={The first modern horse racing meeting in Ottoman Empire dates back to 1856. This meeting held in Buca (İzmir) was organised by the Levantine entrepreneurs living in the neighborhood to celebrate the beginning of the construction of İzmir-Aydın Railway. The local people of İzmir showed much interest in this organization since its beginning. Until 1880s, only foreigners and non-muslim subjects of the empire could attend in the organization as breeders and jockeys. However during the last quarter of the 19th century, the muslims also began to register their horses in the courses. The reason why these meetings took root in Buca is the geographic and commercial aspects of İzmir where Ottoman and European cultures meet for centuries. Modern horse racing was one of the socio-cultural values that Levantine people and foreign merchants brought in daily life of İzmir. The Ottoman Sultans Abdülmecid and Abdülaziz paid much attention to the races when they visited the city and both of them tried to facilitate the entegration of muslim subjects into the organization. These first races held in Buca have important effects on the beginning of horse races in Kağıthane (İstanbul) and the establishment of the Ottoman Jockey Club. Today’s races in İzmir is the continuation of this periodical organization started in the mid 19th century. On the other hand, İzmir is one of the oldest horse breeding cities of Turkey thanks to this initiative dating to 1856. This research aims to reveal the circumstances in which this centenary sportive, cultural and entertaning organization took root in Buca by the Levantines and foreign people living around. The paper is a part of a dissertation named “The Ethnographic History of Horse Racing in Turkey” which continues in the Department of Atatürk Principles and History of Revolution in Yıldız Technical University and is fed by the documents from The Jockey Club of Turkey Archive and some other related databases.},author={Ozan TORUN-Fahriye DİNÇER},year={2020},journal={Turkish Studies-Social Sciences}}