Thursday Video: Japan’s Largest Horse Racing Facility

Take a tour of the largest horse racing facility in Japan. It’s impressive!

If you’ve ever seen the inner-workings of a large clock — you know the ones; there are intricate gears, turning in different directions, moving each other along in order to keep time — you might be reminded of that as you watch this video of the Miho Training Center in Japan.

Dubbed “the heartbeat of Japanese racing,” the Miho training center is the largest horse racing facility in Japan. The facility has eight training course: seven in the north and south training track and a slow training course. The courses include dirt courses, turf courses, and a woodchip course.

The facility houses around 2000 horses — including Japan’s 2018 Horse of the Year, Almond Eye — and nearly 5000 people. It’s also one of the most technologically advanced training center’s in the world. There’s an equine hospital onsite, with a standing MRI machine as well as swimming pools to improve fitness and strength.