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JRA Dips Toe in Global Pool

3 minute read

The Japan Racing Association (JRA), the world’s largest horse racing and breeding organization, will soon be betting on select international races for the first time in it’s 62 year history.

JRA representatives are currently setting up the infrastructure to facilitate Japanese betting on international meetings including the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Melbourne’s Spring Carnival, The Breeders Cup, Hong Kong international races, Royal Ascot and others … with a restriction.

Orfevre
Orfevre

Restriction? Yep, the JRA can (by law) only operate on international races where a ‘Japanese Horse’ is competing.

The official commencement race is yet to be announced; however, the JRA has said publicly that it will be starting in the autumn. An obvious starting point would be the October 2nd Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the greatest race in the world, and a race Japan is desperate to win. That is if there is a Japanese runner of course, there were none in 2015. Failing that the G1 Caulfield Cup in Melbourne would be the next probable option.

Maurice winning the 2015 HKIR Mile
Maurice winning the 2015 HKIR Mile Picture: Racing and Sports

The JRA is a government overseen organization; it’s charter is to manage racing and breeding domestically for the people of Japan.

It has taken the JRA years (decades?) to get parliamentary approval to operate even this restricted form of international betting.

In 2015 the JRA’s total betting turnover was a staggering¥2,583,391,869,800 ($US 21.45 billion), up 3.6% on 2014 for the 3451 races they conducted over 288 racing days.

6,317,071 people attended JRA race meetings in 2015, up 2.8% on 2014 figures.

The JRA held ¥41,617,749,800 ($US 346 million) on the year ending G1 2500m Arima Kinen at Nakayama, the biggest betting race of the year in Japan if not the world.

The JRA clearly has the largest yearly horse race betting turnover of any race club or betting organization on the planet.

Japanese racing fans have patiently waited a long time to be able to bet on international races and appear ready to leap into it.

If they will in fact leap in and turn the pools into mega $US 150mil+ pools overnight or whether they’ll plod along and the pool sizes will be negligible (compared to domestic pools) is going to be very keenly watched over the next eighteen months.

As the JRA is restricted to offering betting only on foreign races where a Japanese horse competes there will be a very limited number of races covered initially.

No official definition yet on what constitutes a ‘Japanese Horse’ has been offered. Born in Japan? Trained in Japan? Raced in Japan? Japanese owned? Mad? Other? Loopholes?

Typically the JRA opens for betting on domestic races approximately 24 hours before the race’s scheduled time.

Wonder what happens if there is $100 mil+ in a JRA international race pool and the Japanese horse becomes a late scratching!? Does it become a ‘No Race’ with all bets cancelled and refunded by the JRA? A potentially devastating situation for the foreign club if they lose the expected turnover rake.

Currently it appears that the JRA will operate stand-alone-Japan-only Totalizator pools on international races initially, and, hopefully (fingers crossed but breath not held), they will be courageous enough to co-mingle pools with reputable foreign jurisdictions in the future.

Thankfully, bookmakers and betting exchanges do not exist in Japan, so there won’t be any options or distractions in that regard.

The Japanese horses competing overseas and particularly the popular ‘Idol’ horses are going to come up ridiculously short quotes in a JRA stand-alone tote pool. The Japanese are as parochial as most nations. Will the punters of Japan tolerate extreme ‘unders’ about their horses? Not likely.

Surely the JRA must consider co-mingling sooner than later.

However, if they do commence co-mingling and the Japanese bet up big to their potential, will it be possible for punters to get fair odds on the Japanese horses anyway? By sheer weight of money from Japan won’t the market still become heavily distorted?

Who, apart from Hong Kong perhaps, could equitably co-mingle with a JRA mega pool and produce a reasonably fair market for the Japanese punters if they do bet to their potential?

Also interesting will be what measures foreign race clubs will take to attract Japanese horses for their major races. The income from the JRA for Japanese betting on their races could be a massive revenue source for some clubs. What extremes will they go too to ensure they have Japanese horses competing in their major races?

Especially interesting will be how jurisdictions that don’t traditionally invite foreign horses (and pick up the travel tab) will entice Japanese horses to their major races. Looking at you Sydney …

Similarly, if international betting is a roaring success and the JRA develops a substantial new revenue stream, then they too will obviously want to see more and more Japanese horses competing overseas.

If the elite JRA Group 1 horses travel too much, then it will have a detrimental effect on the JRA’s domestic race betting turnover and interest in local racing overall could wane. It’s the same for all territories, the local pools are highest and interest the most intense when the best horses compete. It will take some very thoughtful managing by the JRA to encourage more Japanese horses to race overseas without affecting the more important domestic racing.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s (HKJC) recent decision to dramatically increase the number of races open to international competition is a bold and progressive move. Being geographically and regulatorily convenient many more Japanese horses will head to Hong Kong chasing both the good prize money and precious Group 1 ink for their resume. Hopefully this can lead to a stronger partnership and new world alliance between the two heavyweights of world racing, the HKJC and the JRA.

Can huge players in either Hong Kong or Japan get the green and brown lights flickering on a co-mingled JRA x HKJC mega-monster tote pool? Now, that would be interesting!

An exciting time lies ahead for racing fans and punters as the JRA commences betting on international races, albeit in a restricted format. This initial foray could be the start of a period of concerted internationalization by the JRA and see them opening up their own world class domestic racing to a hungry-for-more audience overseas. Or perhaps it will be a secure way for them to say “Look at us, we are international!” without really having to put up with too much grief from pesky foreigners? Hoping for the former. Stay tuned.


Racing and Sports

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