South Kanto fully introduces point-based system

South Kanto public racing, the group of tracks at Urawa, Oi, Funabashi and Kawasaki, moved to a point accumulation system in place of program prize money (番組賞金) from 1 January 2024, with an early introduction for two-year-olds from 1 April 2023¹. The change was announced as a full introduction across the region¹.

Under the existing arrangement, a horse's class is set by program prize money, which is the prize money it has won adjusted by coefficients each organizer or region sets. Organizers generally use three broad divisions, A, B and C, though the criteria differ by organizer and region, including age, earnings and points converted from finishing positions. Some organizers subdivide the broad divisions with numbers, such as A1, A2 and B1¹.

The Hyogo Racing Association already uses its own points system for grading horses¹. South Kanto is the region now replacing program prize money with accumulated points¹.

Racing in Japan is split between the Japan Racing Association's central racing and local racing run by prefectural and municipal bodies under the Racing Law of July 1948¹. As of April 2013, 14 organizers ran flat and ban'ei racing at 17 racecourses nationwide, including tracks where racing is not held, overseen by the National Association of Racing¹. As of 2014, local racing accounted for roughly 60 percent of registered horses and about 80 percent of races in Japanese racing with betting ticket sales¹. Payout rates on winning horse betting tickets are 70 to 80 percent¹.

Telephone voting, including internet voting, accounts for 89.9 percent of the total¹.

What it means for players

The change affects how horses are placed in races, not how bets are placed or paid. Grading decides which races a horse can enter, so a points system can shift which horses appear in which class of race at the four South Kanto tracks. Payout rates of 70 to 80 percent on winning tickets are unchanged in the reported figures¹. The sources do not report any change to bet types, takeout or the share of sales made through telephone and internet voting, which stood at 89.9 percent¹. Details of how points are awarded, and whether the South Kanto scale matches the Hyogo points system, have not been reported¹.

What happens next

The full system applies from 1 January 2024, with two-year-olds already under it from 1 April 2023¹. No further steps, review dates or changes to other regions have been reported¹.

For background on the sport and its betting pools, see Horse Racing and Betting in Asia: Racecourses, Pari-Mutuel Pools, Bet Types and Where You Can Bet. For the legal position on betting in the country, see Can I Gamble in Japan?.