Japanese Horse Racing Has Become Top Class Racing In The Last 15 Years

By Author: Lee Lane-Edgar
Total Articles: 365
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The two primary associations that organize horse racing in Japan are the Japan Horseracing Association (the JHA), and the National Association of Racing (the NRA).
Some of the major horse racing events in Japan include the Japan Cup, the Japan Cup dirt, the Arima Kenen, the Tokyo Yushun, the Satsuki Sho, the Kikuka Sho, the Tenno Sho, the Takarazuka Kinen, among others.
The Japan Cup is probably the most prestigious horse race that is run in Japan. It is about 1 ½ miles (2400 meters to be exact) on the grass which is run in November each year at Tokyo Racecourse in Fucho. It is one of the richest races in the world, with the purse being about $5.8 million dollars. The race is by invitation only.
American trained and owned horses had very little success in the Japan Cup, and in fact have not won a Japan Cup since 1988, when a horse named Pay the Butler won it. In fact, Japanese trained and owned horses have dominated the Japan Cup having won the last five runnings, and won nine of the last twelve. American horses are generally not bred especially for the long 1 ½ mile distance or the grass. This combined ...
... with the improvement in Japanese breeding stock has helped the Japanese horses to take their place among the elite of the world.
The Japan Cup is to Japanese racing what the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe are to American and European racing.
The Japan Cup Dirt is run a week after the Japan Cup and is a distance of 1800 meters, or about 9 furlongs. It is a curious race because it is run on a right handed track, which means they run around the track in the opposite direction to which they are used to in American racing. The inaugural running of the Japan Cup Dirt was in 2000 and like the Japan Cup, has been dominated by Japanese runners, having taken ten of the eleven runnings. The race has been taken by an American runner just one time, and that was in 2003 by Fleetstreet Dancer, which was trained by Doug O’Neil and ridden by jockey Jon Court.

So if the American’s and Europeans think they can just waltz in there and clean up, they should think again, as they will need to bring their very best to win.
Much of the success of the ascendancy of Japanese racing can be attributed to Sunday Silence, the American champion racehorse who was the 1989 Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, as well as that year’s Horse of the Year. After American breeders took little interest in him, Zenya Yoshida of Shadai Stallion Statio eventually obtained ownership of him, which may have been one of the single greatest investment ever in horseracing. He became the leading sire in Japan from 1995 to 2007. His progeny have won many important races including the Japan Cup and the Hong Kong Vase.
Some of the most famous racecourses in Japan include Tokyo Racecourse, Nakayama Racecourse, and Hanshin Racecourse