Kanazawa Racecourse Official
The JRA was tightening its grip on national betting, and local ownership was waning. In 2002, Kanazawa hit rock bottom—racing was suspended, and the track faced permanent closure.
Ask the ticket seller for the "NAR Tochi no Kuni" (NAR Local Kingdom) betting sheet. It has the jockey stats for the day. Pay attention to jockey Tatsuya Nakajima or Hiroto Yoshihara – they are the local kings. Have you ever been to a NAR racecourse? Would you trade the turf of Tokyo for the dirt of Kanazawa? Let me know in the comments below. kanazawa racecourse
Racing is held primarily on Sundays, Mondays, and some holidays from mid-April to mid-December. The track is closed in the deep winter (January to March) due to heavy snow in Ishikawa. The Verdict: Why You Should Go Kanazawa Racecourse is not about high-stakes glamour. It is about survival. It is a blue-collar racetrack where trainers live in small apartments above the stables and jockeys ride eight races a day just to break even. The JRA was tightening its grip on national
100 yen (Yes, roughly 70 cents USD). This is the cheapest live sport in Japan. It has the jockey stats for the day
If you love horse racing for the sport rather than the spectacle, visit Kanazawa. You will stand ten feet from the rail as 1,000-pound thoroughbreds whip around a tight left-handed turn. You will taste local sake while holding a paper ticket worth $2. And you will witness a version of Japanese horse racing that is rapidly disappearing.
On this day, Kanazawa comes alive. The purse is relatively small (approx. 40 million yen to the winner), but the pride is immense. This race serves as a "Road to the Tokyo Daishoten" and occasionally produces a horse that goes on to compete in the February Stakes (G1). Kanazawa is already a major tourist destination (Kenrokuen Garden, Nagamachi Samurai District, Omicho Market). The racecourse is a fantastic "off the beaten path" half-day trip.
When most people think of Japanese horse racing, their minds immediately jump to the glitz and glamour of the Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse or the historic staying power of the Tenno Sho at Kyoto. However, beneath the surface of the elite JRA (Japan Racing Association) lies a vast, passionate, and character-filled world of NAR (National Association of Racing) .