Venue Information

Lapangan Pacuan Kuda Kubu Gadang

Payakumbuh, West Sumatra

Kubu Gadang is one of the oldest racecourses in West Sumatra, in the urban area of Payakumbuh. It dates to the Dutch colonial period, when racing was an elite pastime that Minangkabau communities later adopted as a cultural tradition and village festival. Sources give the founding year as 1902, 1906 or 1909. The city government, racing communities and traditional groups are working to preserve it, with revitalisation and grandstand work under way.

The track is compact and tight, which jockeys describe as hard to control, with a short finishing straight of about 200 m. It holds a maximum of eight horses per race. It hosts regional open races and Sarga's Indonesia's Horse Racing Cup II in September 2025. West Sumatra has around eight active racing tracks, the most of any province.

Location

Kubu Gadang, Payakumbuh, West Sumatra

Spectator capacity

To be confirmed (event crowds of about 18,000 to 40,000 have been reported)

Racecourse size

About 900 m long and 12 m wide (approximate, from a single report); a flat track with a finishing straight of about 200 m

Site area

To be confirmed

Opened

Early 1900s (sources give 1902, 1906 or 1909)

Owner

To be confirmed (the city government and local racing communities look after it)

Compiled from public sources until Sarga supplies its own venue information. Figures marked approximate come from news reports or differ between sources.