Hong Kong fans to watch Japan Cup simulcast from Nakayama

18 November 2002

Hong Kong racing fans will again have the chance to watch and wager on the Japan Cup (Gr.1-2200m) live from Nakayama Racecourse on Sunday, November 24.

The famous race - the penultimate event in the World Series Racing Championship - has been switched to Nakayama for one year only owing to the closure for refurbishment of Tokyo Racecourse after the Yasuda Kinen earlier this year. The move to Nakayama also means that 200m has been shaved off the traditional 2400m Japan Cup distance.

Nakayama is a dual-purpose flat and jumps racecourse with steady uphill run inside the last 200 metres. Three courses are used at Nakayama - an inner oval course 1,667 metres in length, an outer oval course of 1,840 metres and a dirt track measuring 1,493 metres. The home stretch on the outer turf course is 310 metres long and the straight on the dirt course is 308 metres long.

Last year there were 40 race days at Nakayama with an average attendance of 48,093. The record attendance at the racecourse was a massive 177,779 for the Arima Kinen meeting on 23 December 1990.

The highest betting turnover for a day's racing at Nakayama, including off-course betting, was reached six years ago when the Arima Kinen card grossed HK$1.4 billion. The big race itself attracted an impressive HK$1.2 billion in turnover.

Nakayama also stages the richest steeplechase in the world, the Nakayama Grand Jump and the Japanese 2000 Guineas, the Satsuki Sho.