Horse racing basics
Horse racing () is on TV every weekend and comes up in a lot of small talk. This lesson covers the horses, the jockeys, the courses and the words you need to follow a race and talk about it afterwards. Tap to hear any line. The bar at the bottom plays a hands-free drill for walking.
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25 racing words
Each card shows a word, the form you'll use most and a sentence you'd hear at the track or in front of the TV. Five reuse words from Everyday Japanese 1 and 2.
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Surface, going and race class
The race card always tells you the surface, the distance and the going (, how wet the track is). Here's what those words mean.
| Word | Means | You'll hear |
|---|
- Horses are . Count horses with : , . A JRA race has at most 18 runners.
- Places are . is first, second, third.
- is the betting. is the favourite: the horse most people have bet on. It isn't always the best horse.
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Four patterns to use today
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Say it in Japanese
Say each one out loud before you reveal the answer. Getting close counts.