"One is baseball, one is sumo wrestling and the other one is horse racing. We are always exposed to racing and thoroughbreds are beautiful animals, and there is drama and romance and a challenge to the Arc because we've been trying to win for more than 50 years. I think that's why Japanese people are so attached to the Arc."
"For thousands of Japanese racing fans who will make the 12,000-mile round trip to Paris, and millions more who are expected to tune in back home in the early hours of Monday morning, it is that time of the year once again. Since Speed Symboli, the first Japanese-trained runner in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, finished 11th in 1969, another 32 have tried and failed to win Europe's most valuable and prestigious race,"
"Over the last 30 years, Japan's racing industry has grown to become, by metrics including betting turnover and prize money, the richest and most successful in the world. All it has to show for the trillions of yen and millions of air miles invested in the country's attempt to win an Arc, however, is a series of increasingly agonising disappointments."
Japanese sports coverage prominently features baseball, sumo and horse racing, and thoroughbreds and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe inspire deep public attachment. Thousands of fans travel 12,000-mile round trips to Paris while millions more watch broadcasts during early hours. Since Speed Symboli's 1969 run, 32 Japanese-trained horses have attempted the Arc without success, with three more—Byzantine Dream, Alohi Alii and Croix Du Nord—set to compete at Longchamp. Over the past 30 years, Japan's racing industry became the richest and most successful worldwide by betting turnover and prize money, yet massive investment has yielded repeated agonizing near-misses.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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