Hanshin Racecourse

Hanshin Racecourse is located in Takarazuka, Hyogo, Japan. The land where the racecourse is situated was originally owned by Kawanishi Aircraft Company, which manufactured combat planes during WWII.

After the WWII, the Japanese Air Force ordered the company to stop manufacturing combat planes and closed the factory.

In 1949, Keihanshin Keiba K.K. built the Hashin Racecourse. The racecourse was transferred to Japan Racing Association in 1955. A major reconstruction was completed in 1991, and another in 2006. It has 12,603 seats and has a capacity of up to 139,877.

The Hanshin Racecourse joins Kyoto Racecourse as the second of the two feature racecourses in Western Japan.

Hanshin has the same number of race meetings as Kyoto and the two racecourses alternate race meeting.

Hanshin Racecourse Quick Facts

• Hanshin Racecourse has two turf courses, a dirt course, and a jump course.

• The turf's outer oval measures 2089m (1 1/4 miles + 254 feet), and the inner oval measures 1689m (1 mile + 261 feet). Two chutes allow races to be run at 1800m/1400m and 2600m/2200m, respectively. Races can be run on the "A Course" rail setting (on the hedge), or the "B Course" setting (rail out 4 meters). The dirt course measures 1518 meters (7/8 mile + 360 feet), with a 1400m chute.

• The 2089m-long outer oval turf course was part of a major construction in 2006, and was a 400m-long extension. This would eventually remove two old chutes previously used, including a 1600m chute used for the currently-used 1689m-long inner oval course. The reconstruction (until the course was completely reconstructed) forced stakes races held in Hanshin during the second reconstruction period to be held in other racecourses, including Chukyo Racecourse and Kyoto Racecourse.

• It started to host the Japan Cup Dirt in 2008.

Significant Races at Hanshin Racecourse

The Hanshin Racecourse plays host to many significant races in the Japanese horseracing calendar. Here are some of them:

• Japan Cup Dirt
• Takarazuka Kinen
• Oka Sho (the Japanese 1000 Guineas)
• Hanshin Juvenile Fillies