Horse Racing

On a winter day four years ago, Takeshi Watanabe, then a graduate student at the University of Tokyo, went to watch the year-end Arima Kinen horse race at Nakayama racecourse in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture. For him the day was more about watching horses and ...

Gran Alegria made a stunning late dash to capture the 37th running of the Mile Championship at Hanshin Racecourse on Sunday and claim her third straight Grade 1 victory. Steered by Japan's leading jockey Christophe Lemaire, the race-favorite barreled around the pack in the final ...

Second-favorite Chrono Genesis blitzed the field Sunday to claim the Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse. Yuichi Kitamura steered the 4-year-old mare to victory by six lengths over sixth-favorite Kiseki. Outsider Mozu Bello finished third ahead of pre-race favorite Saturnalia. "She ran really strongly. I didn't worry ...

Third-pick Gran Alegria cruised to victory in the Yasuda Kinen on Sunday and denied race-favorite Almond Eye an unprecedented eighth Grade 1 turf win. Ridden by Kenichi Ikezoe, Gran Alegria came up through the middle of the pack in the final stretch of the mile ...

The colt, ridden by jockey Yuichi Fukunaga, is now one win away from the Japanese triple crown.

The countdown is on for one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan, as the clock ticks down to 3:40 p.m. on Sunday, when the Japanese Derby will be run. This year, with things as they are in the world of sport, the ...

While the COVID-19 pandemic has halted almost all sporting events in Japan, horse racing has been the rare exception. The races, of course, have been held under very strict guidelines, but the Japan Racing Association has thus far avoided any cancellations. The JRA has held ...

Daring Tact captured the 81st running of the Japanese Oaks on Sunday and became the second unbeaten horse and first in 63 years to win two legs of the prestigious Japanese filly triple crown. With Kohei Matsuyama aboard, Daring Tact threaded her way through a ...

Heavy favorite Almond Eye won the 15th running of the Victoria Mile on Sunday to tie the all-time record for most Grade 1 victories by a Japanese racehorse on turf. Ridden by jockey Christophe Lemaire, Almond Eye finished the 1,600-meter race at Tokyo Racecourse in ...