All JRA racehorses must be registered and be trained at the Miho or Ritto Training Center. Horses running in a race are transported to the racecourses by horse van from respective training center and are returned to the training center after the race. Racecourses have stables to accommodate the visiting horses.
RACE HORSE HOSPITALS
The Miho and Ritto Training Centers both have the latest racehorse hospital facilities staffed by approximately 30 JRA veterinarians. The racehorse hospitals offer facilities and expertise for such activities as: (1) the diagnosis and treatment of the diseases and locomotive injuries that occur during training and races, (2) the implementation of epidemic control activities for the prevention of outbreaks and/or the spread of infectious diseases, (3) the continual maintenance of a database of the physical racing fitness of individual racehorse, (4) the development and promotion of the latest horseshoeing research and techniques, and a wide range of other related research activities. Further, all of the JRA's racecourses, the yearling training farms, the Equestrian Park and the Horseracing School, have equine clinics staffed with veterinarians.
RITTO TRAINING CENTER
| ■Prefecture: Shiga | ||
| 40 kilometers from Kyoto Racecourse 86 kilometers from Hanshin Racecourse 146 kilometers from Chukyo Racecourse |
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| ■Courses: | Width | |
| A | Course (Steeplechase) 1,450 m (turf) |
20 m |
| B | Course 1,600 m (dirt) | 20 m |
| C-W | Course 1,800 m (woodchip) | 20 m |
| D | Course 1,950 m (turf) | 18 m |
| D-W | Course 2,063 m (woodchip) | 10 m |
| E | Course 2,200 m (dirt) | 30 m |
| Uphill | Course 1,085 m (woodchip) | 7 m |
| ■Total Area 1,519,000m2 | ||
| ■Stable Accommodations: 2,163 | ||
Opened in 1969 as Japan's first training center, Ritto Training Center has a variety of training facilities, including turf, dirt, woodchip courses, an uphill course of 1,085m and a racehorse swimming pool. Ritto stables some 2,200 horses, and the population of trainers, jockeys, stable employees and their families number approximately 4,000.
MIHO TRAINING CENTER
| ■Prefecture: Ibaraki | ||
| 79 kilometers from Nakayama Racecourse 125 kilometers from Tokyo Racecourse |
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| ■Courses: | ||
| South Track | Width | |
| A | Course 1,370 m (dirt) | 25 m |
| B | Course 1,600 m (woodchip) | 20 m |
| C | Course 1,800 m (turf) |
20 m |
| 1,858 m (new polytrack) | 20 m | |
| D | Course 2,000 m (dirt) | 30 m |
| Uphill | Course 1,200 m (woodchip) | 12 m |
| North Track | Width | |
| A | Course (Steeplechase) 1,447 m (turf) | 13 m |
| 1,370 m (dirt) | 13 m | |
| B | Course 1,600 m (dirt) | 20 m |
| C | Course 1,800 m (dirt) | 20 m |
| ■Total Area 2,234,000m2 | ||
| ■Stable Accommodations: 2,304 | ||
Miho Training Center was opened in 1978. It has training tracks with various track surfaces. There are approximately 2,300 racehorses stabled at Miho. Since its founding, an indoor swimming pool, an uphill course, and a cross country promenade course have been added to the Center's facilities. The uphill course was extended by 400 meters in 2004, making the overall length 1,200 meters. In order to diversify the range of training facilities, a New Polytrack was installed in 2007.
URL
Ritto Training Center: http://jra.jp/rittou/index.html (Japanese)
Miho Training Center: http://jra.jp/miho/index.html (Japanese)
