The Mystique of Nakayama Racecourse

The Mystique of Nakayama Racecourse

By Hearst Schlitz III
The Ponyville Express
November 10, 2021

Nakayama Racecourse (中山競馬場 Nakayama-keibajō) is located in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan. It is used for horse racing. It has a capacity of 165,676. It was built in 1990. It has 15,944 seats. Nakayama Race Course has two grass courses, a dirt course, and a jump course.

The turf's outer oval (外回り sotomawari) measures 1840m (1 1/8 miles + 97 feet) with a 1600m and a 2200m chute, and the inner oval (内回り uchimawari) measures 1667m (1 mile + 189 feet) with a 1400m chute. Races can be run on the "A Course" rail setting (on the hedge), the "B Course" setting (rail out 3 meters), or the "C Course" setting (rail out 7 meters).

1000m, 1400m, 1800m, 2000m, 2500m and 3600m races run on the inner oval, while 1200m, 1600m, 2200m, 2600m and 4000m races run on the outer oval. 3200m races run on the outer oval first, then the inner oval. The dirt course measures 1493 meters (7/8 mile + 278 feet), with a 1200m chute.

The Arima Kinen (有馬記念) is a Grade I flat horse race in Japan open to Thoroughbreds which are three-years-old or above. It is run over a distance of 2,500 metres (approximately 1 mile and 4½ furlongs) at Nakayama Racecourse, and it takes place annually in late December. It is one of the two "All-Star" races in Japanese horse racing; the other is the Takarazuka Kinen in late June.

The event was first run in 1956, and it was initially titled the Nakayama Grand Prix (中山グランプリ). The following year it was renamed in memory of Yoriyasu Arima (1884–1957), the founder of the race. The distance was originally set at 2,600 metres, and it was shortened to the present length, 2,500 metres, in 1966.

The majority of the runners (10 out of 16) in the field are selected by a vote from racing fans, which must be a Japan Racing Association(JRA) horse. If at least one horse in top 10 decided not participating the race, the void will be filled with next available horse until 10 available runners are filled. The remainder of 6 (including National Association of Racing(NAR) and foreign-based horse) are determined by the amount of prize money won in.

Until 1999 the Arima Kinen was open to Japanese trained horses only. However, the Japan Racing Association introduced a new condition in 2000 which allowed for the participation of a foreign trained horse, if it had won that year's Japan Cup (though, no horse eligible has ended up participating this race). The Arima Kinen was classed as a Domestic Grade I until 2006, and it was then promoted to an International Grade I in 2007. Consequently, it is now possible for more foreign trained horses to compete in the race. The maximum number of these was set at four in 2007, and this increased to six for the 2008 running.