Beirut’s hippodrome hangs in balance amid economic crisis and illegal betting

A race took place at the Beirut hippodrome on Sunday at noon.Under the December sun, a few dozen bettors came to revive the place for three or four hours. Time seems to be frozen here, between the nostalgia of the past and the cruelty of the present.Located between the Residence des Pins and the national museum, the 200,000 square meter racecourse park, with its earthen track and its multiple plant species, seems to have become a real headache to preserve.It is a far cry from the 1960s and ’70s, when middle-class families used to arrive in their Sunday best after a day at the beach or in the mountains to watch a dozen muscular Arabian thoroughbreds race at night under the lights of giant floodlights.Outdoor lighting no longer exists in the context of a bankrupt state where private generators are the only reliable source of power.Not...