An evening of racing insight, lively bidding and great company, the King of the Mountain Calcutta Dinner is a highlight in the lead-up to this iconic feature raceday.
What is a Calcutta?
Calcutta: Sweepstakes conducted prior to a big event with each horse being raffled and then auctioned to the highest bidder.
A Calcutta auction (also known simply as a “Calcutta”) is an open auction held prior to a major horse race.
Originally in Calcutta, India, from where this technique was first recorded by the Colonial British, to bid among themselves to “buy” each of the contestants, with each contestant being assigned to the highest bidder. The contestant will then pay out to the owner a predetermined proportion of the pool depending on how it performs in the tournament.
Also called Calcutta pool: A form of betting pool in which people bid for participating contestants in an auction, the proceeds from which are put into a pool for distribution, according to a prearranged scale of percentages, to those who selected winners.


