"There are two contrasting worlds in horse racing: one glamorous and the other prosaic," said Toru Iwasaki, a Sapporo University economics professor who has been studying horse breeding areas in Japan since the 1970s.
Iwasaki, 62, said the horse breeding areas are a far cry from the glamorous world of big-time racecourses.
The celebrated thoroughbred Deep Impact came from Northern Farm Hayakita near the town of Abira, Hokkaido. Last year the high-flying colt won the Triple Crown, sweeping the Satsuki-sho, Japan Derby and Kikka-sho.