ARCADIA — Santa Anita Park, a sister thoroughbred racetrack of TCK, Ohi Racetrack, in Japan, will host the 21st annual Tokyo City Cup on Sunday, April 3.
This $100,000 Grade III Tokyo City Cup race brings together some of the top thoroughbreds in the nation. Along with this race, the annual spring event “Japan Family Day” will be held on the site. It celebrates a long partnership between two of the premier tracks in the world with a wide variety of Japanese cultural exhibitions, food booths and travel information on Japan.
The Tokyo City Cup, won last year by Sky Kingdom, is the sole graded stakes race named for a major city outside of the United States. Free admission coupons are available by visiting www.tokyocitycup.com. Also, free Tokyo City Cup T-shirts and Japanese towels for the first 1,000 patrons (coupon available on the website and select publications) and more gifts for fans who complete a survey at the drawing tables are available.
The website also provides more information about the specific event schedule. Gates open at 10:30 a.m., with first post at 12:30 p.m.
Japan Family Day features cultural exhibitions booths such as sado (tea ceremony), kado (flower arranging), shodo (calligraphy), origami (paper folding), anime, and stage shows like karate, minyo (folk singing), sumo (wrestling), Ryukyu buyo (Okinawa traditional dance), Tsugaru shamisen (three-stringed instrument), kendo (swordsmanship), geta dance (contemporary performing art), kobudo (old-style martial arts), kids’ dance, and taiko (a special drum performance).
If you want to know more about Japan, visit tour information booths to find attractive travel destinations for your next vacation. For the kids, there will be games, pony rides, face-painting and more.
If you are hungry, various Japanese food booths will serve ramen, sushi, curry, okonomiyaki, Japanese tea, Japanese barbecue, onigiri, and baked goods. For adults, there will be a Japanese beer garden.
For more information, visit www.tokyocitycup.com.
Santa Anita Park (www.santaanita.com) is located in Arcadia, a residential community 14 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is famous as a filming location for the movie “Seabiscuit.” Daily racing continues through July 10, from Thursday through Sunday.
Photos by MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo
