Horse Racing in Asia has never been more popular. Macau is a place where the sport is extremely popular, as are countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Dubai boasted the richest horse race in the world for a long time. The Dubai World Cup pays $12m to the victor and takes place at the Meydan racecourse at the climax of the Dubai Racing Carnival in the Spring. In recent years, however, that has been surpassed by the Saudi Cup, which is hosted in Riyadh.
The Saudi Cup only launched as recently as 2020 but is now worth as much as $30.5m for its victor. Websites such as OddsChecker allow punters to compare Horse Racing odds, including on the mammoth races in the Arabian Gulf.
But while those oil-rich countries may offer the most lucrative prizes, they cannot claim the largest race courses. That is an honor that goes to Japan, which boasts the three largest race tracks in the world. Let’s take a look at them in further detail.
Tokyo Racecourse – Tokyo
The largest racecourse in the world, and by some distance, is Tokyo Racecourse in the Japanese capital. The huge grandstands at the famous old track can host up to 223,000 spectators at any one time making it the largest in the world by a margin of almost 60,000.
In Japan, the venue is often referred to as the “racecourse of racecourses” and it hosts a number of the country’s biggest races, including the Japan Cup — worth up to $6m — and the Tokyo Yushun (the Japanese Derby).
Nakayama Racecourse – Chiba
The Japanese city of Chiba isn’t a particularly well-known one. It is just the 14th largest city in the country with a population of 962,000. It is however the location of the Nakayama racecourse, which has a capacity of just over 165,000. The venue can host a staggering 17% of the city’s population. To put that into context, Tokyo’s racecourse would have to accommodate 2.4m people if it was to host 17% of the city’s population.
Hanshin Racecourse – Hyogo
Coming in third place is Hanshin Racecourse in Hyogo, which has a maximum capacity of 140,000. The racecourse has a capacity that’s 10,000 larger than Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne and 20,000 larger than Epsom Downs in the United Kingdom — which are in fourth and fifth place in the list of the world’s largest racecourses.