The Japan Racing Association conducted 288 race meetings in 2025, and annual wagering was ¥3,505,966,878,300 (approx. US$22.26 billion), which is 5.2% higher than 2024 and the 14th straight year of increase.
The record annual handle of ¥4,000,661,663,100 was established in 1997. It declined for 14 consecutive years after and hit the bottom in 2011 when annual handle was ¥2,293,578,053,600. The figure in 2025 is 52.9% larger than the bottom year.
The race with the biggest handle in 2025 was the Dec. 28 Arima Kinen (G1T) at Nakayama Racecourse with ¥71,345,206,100 (approx. US$453 million) invested by punters, which was 29.5% higher than 2024 and the biggest handle on a single race in Japan this century.
Haruki Sugiyama, who won 61 races and earned ¥1,817,947,000 (approx. US$11.54 million), was Japan's leading trainer by both the number of wins and amount of purse earnings. Sugiyama trained five graded stakes winners, including Hopeful Stakes (G1T) winner Lovcen.
Leading jockey both by number of wins and amount of purse earnings was Christophe Lemaire, who rode 140 winners and earned ¥3,714,361,000 (approx. US$23.59 million). His 11 graded stakes victories included the Victoria Mile (G1T) with Ascoli Piceno, Shuka Sho (G1T) with Embroidery, Kikka Sho (G1T) with Energico, and the Tenno Sho Autumn (G1T) with Masquerade Ball.
The 2026 season at JRA began Jan. 4 with meetings at Nakayama and Kyoto.
