Japan Racing Posts Steady Growth
Japan’s horse racing industry, after hitting a low in 2011, has recovered steadily as evidenced once again in the fiscal 2018 third quarter. JRA sales reached nearly 2,037 billion yen as of October 2, up 1.5% from the year earlier.
While the growth rate’s gradual annual decline may be cause for concern in the long term, the current situation is sound. Municipality-run NAR (National Association of Racing) racing marked an even greater increase with a 9.4% increase in average wagering per race-day as of August.
Online betting by both JRA and NAR – JRA’s PAT/IPAT (Personal Access Terminal/Internet Personal Access Terminal) online system together with telephone betting – accounted for 68.8% of total sales, up 4.4%. Within the near future, online betting is expected to amount to 70% of total betting and already accounts for 71.1% of NAR wagering.
Favorable business performance has also impacted the breeding industry that supplies the racing industry. The 2018 Select Sale held by the Japan Racing Horse Association in July set a new record in its yearling sales division, reaching a sell-through rate of 90.6% that amounted to over 9.67 billion yen, up 12%. Two-day sales grossed over 17.93 billion yen, also a record, including foal division sales of nearly 8.26 billion yen, down 5%. Thoroughbred sales organized by the Hidaka horse Breeders Association (HBA), including the Selection Sale, Summer Sale and Autumn Sale, came to over 9.31 billion yen, down 2.6% but still healthy.
The second jockey was the NAR’s veteran rider Fumio Matoba, 62, who surpassed Takemi Sasaki for most career NAR wins when registering his 7,152nd victory on August 12. Matoba continues to make his presence be felt at one of NAR’s most competitive tracks, Oi, where he notched another major win less than a month ago in September and renewed his own record as the oldest jockey to claim a major title.
Then there was Nanako Fujita, JRA’s only active female jockey, who set a new record for career JRA wins by a female jockey when she scored her 35th victory on August 25. Debuting in March 2016 as the JRA’s first female jockey in 16 years, she registered 6 wins in her first season, 14 wins last year and 19 as of the end of this September, giving her enough wins to ride in Gr.1 races.
Press Release and News By Japan Racing Association.