The club’s general manager and secretary, Leow Khin Ming, said the move was in line with a resolution passed at a meeting on June 10 last year.

“The club will be initiating the dissolution process, which is expected to take at least one to two years,” he said.

Racing activities will come to an end with the final race meeting on May 31. Leow said the decision to end racing was aimed at minimising further financial losses.

The exact date of the club’s closure will be decided by the club’s committee, with authorities and stakeholders to be notified, he said.

The Penang Turf Club, founded in 1864, is the country’s oldest horse racing club. It occupies about 202 acres of prime land in Batu Gantong, on the outskirts of George Town.

The club previously launched an open tender to sell the land but the exercise, which closed in December 2024, did not draw any qualified bids.

The club has since been looking at alternative ways to realise the land’s value, which has been estimated at RM6 billion, for commercial use.

This move follows similar closures in the region, including the Singapore Turf Club and Macau Jockey Club, both of which cited financial pressures and declining interest in horse racing.