The coincidence of several conditions was necessary for organising the first official horse-race in Subotica: the increasing need for remount horses, the love for horses, the obvious presence of the cavalry regiment in Subotica, as well as the eternal competition between landowners and the dashing representatives of the army. It is also well-known that an important criterion of becoming a town was the right of holding markets, which contributed to establishing a racecourse at the end of the 19th century. “Könyves-Tóth, an engineer marked the cattle fairgrounds on the huge area between Baja and Halas gates on a map about street network of Subotica in 1884, while the Haymarket was indicated on the Senta Road, near the current courthouse. In 1859, the straw market was also moved to Haymarket. Sámuel Maylánder estate governor reported the town council in February 1898 that because of building the military barracks, the hay market should not remain in this square anymore, and in order to enable easier control of the market-dues, it is advisable to place the market near the Sombor gate. The general assembly fulfilled the request: they ordered to move the straw market to the end of the Sombor Road (on the area between the Calvary and the dove market)…” Thus the markets of cattle, fodder for feeding animals and horse-racing came closer to each other, both in space and time.
Árpád Papp
Source:
http://adattar.vmmi.org/cikkek/4985/szabadkarol_05_magyar_laszlo.pdf