Casino entrepreneur Edouard Bénazet created a sporting occasion to complement Baden-Baden’s fashionable spa season. Three grandstands initially welcomed visitors to Iffezheim, and the meeting soon attracted members of Europe’s aristocracy. After the Franco-Prussian War interrupted this early chapter, the International Club took over, staging its first race day in 1873 and four days of racing the following August.
Iffezheim’s auction tradition began with a yearling sale during the Grosse Woche in 1963. It grew into the Baden-Badener Auktionsgesellschaft, based beside the racecourse. A second thoroughbred auction accompanied the new spring meeting in 1972. The Bénazet grandstand’s construction in 2004 then helped make further race days possible, combining the sales ring and racing in the Sales & Racing Festival.
Lichtentaler Allee. The racecourse is in Iffezheim; nearby Baden-Baden offers a landscaped riverside promenade through its historic spa district.
Caracalla Spa. Extend the excursion in Baden-Baden with its thermal bathing culture, a contrasting experience to a day at the races.
Iffezheim has 5,303 residents.
