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WHAT IS A CALCUTTA?A horse racing Calcutta is an auction sweep on one race. You buy a ticket for a draw, then the field is auctioned, and the people who end up “owning” the placegetters share the pool.
How it usually works
1. Tickets. People buy equal-value tickets. That money starts the prize pool.
2. Draw. One ticket is drawn for each horse in the race (often a cup: Melbourne Cup, Ipswich Cup, a local feature). The holder is the “drawer” of that horse.
3. Auction. Every horse is then auctioned. Anyone can bid, alone or in a syndicate. The highest bidder becomes the owner for the race.
4. The half-and-half rule. This is the bit that makes it a Calcutta rather than a normal sweep:
• If someone else buys the horse, the drawer gets 50% of the hammer price and 50% goes into the pool.
• If the drawer keeps their own horse, they usually pay only half the bid, and that half goes into the pool. They give up the cash they would have taken from selling it, and instead chase the race prizes.
5. The race. After the race, the pool (ticket sales plus the auction share) is paid to the owners of the placed horses.
GET IN EARLY AND JOIN US FOR A FUN AFTERNOON IN THE LEAD UP TO THE RACE THAT STOPS THE NATION
TICKETS ON SALE NOW FROM THE BAR!
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208 Bridge Street, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia, 208 Bridge St, Newtown QLD 4350, Australia, North Toowoomba
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