Horse Racing Seasons in Asia: When Each Jurisdiction Races

Singapore Turf Club to close: what it means for the racing calendar

Singapore used to be one of the easiest places in the region to spend an afternoon at the races. That ended. The Singapore Turf Club held its final race on October 5, 2024, and thousands turned out to watch it⁵.

For anyone who raced at Kranji, the practical details are now historical. Kranji Racecourse was where the club's racing took place, and some areas such as the Marquee, Lotus Room, Gold Card Room and Corporate Boxes needed reservations in advance¹⁰. None of that is bookable now.

Which jurisdictions hold racing, and where

Racing in Asia is not one circuit. It is a set of separate jurisdictions, each with its own tracks, its own season and its own rules about who can bet.

Japan is the largest. The Japan Racing Association runs 10 racecourses nationwide plus 38 off-course betting facilities called WINS¹¹. The 10 central racecourses are the following¹²:

• Sapporo
• Hakodate
• Fukushima
• Niigata
• Nakayama
• Tokyo
• Chukyo
• Kyoto
• Hanshin
• Kokura

Alongside those, local racing, known as NAR, runs at smaller tracks around the country.

Hong Kong races at Sha Tin and Happy Valley. Macau has its own club. Korea runs at Seoul and Busan, with English commentary available for those two¹³. Malaysia has club racing at Perak, Penang and Selangor. India has racing at courses including Kolkata and Pune. Mainland China is about to get its first regular international racing at Conghua.

Where you can actually bet depends on where you are. At a JRA racecourse you can buy betting tickets at the track or at the off-course facilities around the country³. At Perak Turf Club, off-course betting covers races at the other Malaysian turf clubs in Penang and Selangor, plus overseas clubs in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore¹⁴.

Season patterns in Hong Kong and Macau

Hong Kong and Macau run on the same basic rhythm: a season that starts in September and ends in summer.

Macau's season starts in September each year and ends at the end of August the following year¹. Hong Kong's season follows the same shape, opening in September and running through the summer. The 2024-25 Hong Kong season opened on September 8, 2024². Macau's 2023 season closed with its final race on August 26, 2023³.

Hong Kong's season has been extended over the years. In 2005 the club was allowed to lengthen the season by 5 additional race days a year, plus a slight increase in simulcasts of major international races approved by overseas racing authorities². That is why the Hong Kong calendar now stretches further into July than it once did.

Race days in Hong Kong are usually midweek at Happy Valley and weekends at Sha Tin, with the biggest international fixtures drawing overseas runners. If you are visiting and want a race day, check the club's events page for the current schedule rather than assuming a fixed weekly pattern¹⁵.

Japan racing: JRA meetings and NAR tracks like Oi

Japan is the one jurisdiction in the region where you can find racing almost any weekend of the year. The JRA holds its race meetings mainly on Saturdays and Sundays, with several public holidays each year as exceptions⁴.

On a race day, races are held at two, or at times three, racecourses, with at least one each from the eastern region (Tokyo, Nakayama, Fukushima, Niigata) and the western region (Kyoto, Hanshin, Chukyo, Kokura)³. That split matters if you are picking a track to visit: you will not find all 10 courses running at once.

The 2026 season shows how the year is carved up¹¹:

Notice the gaps. Fukushima runs three separate windows. Hanshin runs four. Kyoto runs two. That is the Japanese pattern: a course opens, races intensively for a few weeks, then closes while another takes over.

Local racing, NAR, fills in around the JRA calendar. Tracks on the local racing card include Oi, Kawasaki, Kanazawa, Sonoda, Fukuyama, Kochi and Saga¹⁶. Oi is the best known of these for visitors, and it is one of the two NAR venues in the Tokyo area where you can buy JRA win betting tickets¹⁷.

If you want to bet on local racing, you can do it through the JRA network. The "JRA Net Voting x NAR Racing" service covers mainly dirt graded races plus other races sold on the service, though not every local race is available¹⁸. Payouts work the other way too: at venues like DASH Yokawa, payouts are made on both JRA betting days and NAR racing days¹⁹.

Hokkaido runs its own summer program alongside the JRA. In fiscal 2013 the Hokkaido operation ran 15 meetings over 79 days, from April 24 to November 14, and sold JRA full cards on 105 days at off-course venues²⁰.

Summer has its own series. The Premium Summer Series runs to the Sprinters Stakes in October, with the final races of each racecourse's main races and the final races at the new Sapporo and Niigata racecourses set as target races²¹.

India: confirm race schedules with the organizer

India's racing calendar is built around clubs rather than a single national body. Horse races are allowed throughout India, and the state derives revenue from them²².

The Royal Calcutta Turf Club is one of the oldest and most established. Before you travel to any regional track, though, check the organizer's homepage or other sources to confirm entry conditions and the race schedule, because these can change²³.

For visitors, the practical rule at regional racecourses is simple: check before you go. Entry conditions and race schedules must be confirmed on the organizer's homepage or other sources, because they vary by track and by meeting²².

Malaysia and Thailand: club racing calendars

Malaysia's racing is club based, and the clubs race through much of the year rather than in a single short season.

Perak Turf Club publishes its race program through iRace, printed at the racecourse, with a digital race program and race cards on the club website¹⁴. The club also runs off-course betting on races at the Malaysian turf clubs in Penang and Selangor, plus overseas clubs in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore¹⁴.

The Selangor Turf Club anchors part of the Malaysian season, and it is one of the three licensed turf clubs where betting on horse racing is legal in the country⁷. Entries for all races at Selangor are open to horses from the three Malaysian Turf Clubs⁷.

Thailand's racing calendar is a small one. Betting at Thai tracks is not open the way it is in Hong Kong or Japan.

Major fixtures that anchor the season

A handful of dates hold the regional calendar together. If you are planning travel around racing, these are the ones worth knowing.

The Japan Cup is the biggest international date in Japan. The 2026 running is scheduled for November 29 at Tokyo Racecourse²⁴. It is a Group 1 international invitational, and it draws runners from overseas.

Hong Kong's international races have their own entry deadlines, which tell you when the season's biggest fixtures fall. The Stewards' Cup, the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup and the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup all sit in the second half of the season, with separate closing dates for overseas horses and for local runners¹⁵.

Where racing is limited or winding down

Two places in the region are contracting rather than expanding.

Singapore is the clearest case. The Turf Club held its final race on October 5, 2024, and closes by March 2027, with the site returned to the Government⁵. Racing there is over.

Mainland China is moving the other way, but slowly. Conghua Racecourse will hold its first regular races in 2026, and regular international-level thoroughbred racing begins from late October 2026²⁵. It is run by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and is the first regularly scheduled international racing on the mainland. If you are in Guangdong and want a race day, that is the one to watch.

Korea is worth a note for visitors. English commentary is currently only available for Seoul and Busan races, so if you are at another track you will be following the card without it¹³. Racing runs Friday through Sunday, with 16 races a day on Friday and 17 on Saturday and Sunday⁸.