Joy Horse Hamamatsu ends betting sales

Joy Horse Hamamatsu, an off-track betting facility for local racing (NAR), ended betting sales on March 7, 2023, according to a listing of business resumption information for NAR racecourses and off-track facilities¹. The same listing shows payouts remained available at the facility until that date¹.

The facility appears in a table of off-track betting sites in the Hokuriku, Chubu and Tokai region. Its row records sales as "営業終了" (business ended) and payouts as available only until March 7, 2023¹. No reason for the closure is given in the listing, and no further details about the site, its staff or any replacement have been reported¹.

The listing is a running summary of which NAR racecourses and off-track facilities were open or closed during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Most entries in the same table show sales and payouts both marked as available, including nearby Joy Horse Futaba and off-track sites in Niigata and Nagoya¹. Joy Horse Hamamatsu is one of the few entries marked as closed, alongside Wins Namba in Osaka, which the same table lists as having ended both sales and payouts¹.

The table also records the reopening dates of NAR racecourses after pandemic closures, such as Obihiro (from 2021/10/01), Monbetsu (from 2021/10/05), Oi (from 2021/10/31) and Kawasaki (from 2021/11/08)¹. Those dates concern racecourse admissions, not the Hamamatsu closure.

What it means for players

Joy Horse Hamamatsu was an off-track betting site, one of the places where bettors could wager on horse racing in Japan away from a racecourse. With sales ended, the facility is no longer a place to place a bet in person, and payouts there stopped after March 7, 2023¹.

For anyone who previously used the site, the practical effect is that bets on NAR races must be placed through other channels. The listing shows other off-track facilities in the same region, including Joy Horse Futaba, still operating for both sales and payouts¹. It does not say whether Hamamatsu customers were directed to another site, and no such arrangement has been reported¹.

The closure does not change the wider picture of how betting works in Japan. Racecourse admission rules, off-track sites and online betting accounts are separate matters, and the listing covers only the operating status of physical facilities¹. Nothing in the listing indicates any change to the types of bets available, the pools on offer or the rules for commingled pools and simulcast betting on overseas races¹.

What happens next

No next steps are given. The listing records the end of sales and the payout cut-off date of March 7, 2023, and does not state what will happen to the site or whether any replacement facility is planned¹.