Speed is not everything at one racecourse in Japan, where the unpredictable stop-and-start drama of the world’s slowest horse race has drawn new fans eager to bet on their sturdy favorite.
A fanfare plays, the gates flip open and they are off — but at a plod rather than a gallop, pulling heavy sleighs in a tradition that harks back more than a century.
The Banei Keiba races are held in Obihiro, a city in northern Japan’s Hokkaido, where spectators cheer on the muscular workhorses moving at the pace of a brisk human walk.
Photo: AFP
Eight equine competitors kicked up dust on a recent afternoon as they powered over the first of two mounds on the 200m track.
However, they soon began to stop, taking the first of several breaks to catch their breath, which billowed in the winter air.
The slow progress “builds a little bit of suspense,” 24-year-old Australian tourist Esther McCourt said, marveling at the horses’ size.
Photo: AFP
“No matter how good people or horses look in the beginning, the crucial part is the last 50m, so it can change at any time,” she said.
The popularity of Banei Keiba had dwindled until renewed marketing efforts coincided with a surge of interest during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people began to watch the races and place bets online.
Those casual gamblers along with dedicated fans have boosted the event’s annual sales to ¥55.5 billion (US$373.5 million) — a fivefold increase from their low point in 2011.
Banei Keiba developed when Japanese settlers migrated to Hokkaido, a sparsely populated island with long, bitter winters.
They relied on horses known as banba to clear fields, transport goods and operate mines, and would pit them against each other in tug-of-war games and other contests at local festivals.
Banba are twice as heavy as racing thoroughbreds, and the sleighs they tug weigh more than 600kg.
Jockeys standing on the sleighs shout and whip the horses with long reins to keep them going.
Trainers such as Yoshiyuki Hattori deny any accusations of cruelty, saying the strong creatures are treated with care and are not forced to pull loads above their capacity.
“If thoroughbreds were born to run, banba were bred to haul things,” said Hattori, whose horses have won many race trophies.
“They worked in fields. They worked for us. We want to continue this history,” he said.
For Hattori, Banei races are “more dynamic” than the “visual experience” of regular horse racing.
“This moves you physically as you cheer,” he said.
Three other cities in the region used to host similar races, but they all stopped under mountains of debt in 2006.
The long-stagnant Japanese economy had hit Banei Keiba hard, and the regular punters who kept it going were getting older.
Obihiro Racecourse, now the tradition’s sole custodian, made efforts to attract more young families and tourists by cleaning up the facility and making it smoke-free.
They set up a mini zoo and launched marketing campaigns including tie-ups with popular smartphone games to rejuvenate the attraction.
Now there are about 750 horses taking part in the races, kept by 28 trainers, 150 caretakers and 21 jockeys.
One of the caretakers, 21-year-old Yuno Goto, was busy attaching pale pink and blue fluffy bows and ribbons on a banba’s mane ahead of the race.
She said she dreams of becoming a jockey one day, and called the event “a great opportunity to expose people to this culture and to provide a different experience from other horse races.”
Spectator Taichi Yamada, 27, who moved to the region last year, also said knowing the race’s origins adds to its appeal.
“This is a form of interaction between humans and animals. I hope it will continue as a piece of history,” he said. “It must be tough for horses to pull this much weight. You can’t help but cheer for them.”
Taiwan’s participation in the Olympic Games has been a story of politics as much as sports, with the name it has competed under since 1984 — Chinese Taipei — drawing as much attention as its athletes. However, with the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad set to begin in Paris on Friday, the exploits of Taiwan’s athletes past and present who have won 36 medals since the country’s debut in Melbourne in 1956 deserve a nod. Many of Taiwan’s medal winners have gained considerable name recognition, but only two have achieved legendary status — Maysang Kalimud and Chi Cheng, the only medal winners
Shohei Ohtani on Sunday hit a 473-foot (144m) home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep six times in a 9-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Austin Barnes and Jason Heyward also connected as Los Angeles swept the three-game series. “Going into the break, we weren’t playing good baseball, and then to come out fresh against a really good ball club and to play the way we did — the offense came to life,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. It was the 25th time the Dodgers launched at least six homers in a game
Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman on Wednesday said she would step away from the team’s opening game against New Zealand at the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone scandal. New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions earlier in the week. As of press time last night, Canada, the defending Olympic champions, were set to open the Paris Games against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne. In the fallout of the complaint, two staff members — assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were sent home, the
Conventional wisdom dictates that the average retirement age for elite female players in the intense and physically demanding sport of badminton is well under 30 years old. Five female shuttlers are set to turn that on its head when they make their fourth Olympic appearances at the Paris Games, a feat never accomplished before. Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, 30, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, 29, Belgium’s Lianne Tan, 33, and Hong Kong’s Tse Ying Suet and Canada’s Michelle Li, both 32, are to compete for Olympic glory at Porte de La Chapelle Arena from Saturday to Aug. 5. “These achievements get missed because they’re women,” said