‘Suspense’ of Slowest Horse Race Wins New Fans in Japan 

This picture taken on December 9, 2023 shows a Banei Keiba horse race at the Obihiro racecourse in Obihiro, Hokkaido Prefecture. (AFP)
This picture taken on December 9, 2023 shows a Banei Keiba horse race at the Obihiro racecourse in Obihiro, Hokkaido Prefecture. (AFP)
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‘Suspense’ of Slowest Horse Race Wins New Fans in Japan 

This picture taken on December 9, 2023 shows a Banei Keiba horse race at the Obihiro racecourse in Obihiro, Hokkaido Prefecture. (AFP)
This picture taken on December 9, 2023 shows a Banei Keiba horse race at the Obihiro racecourse in Obihiro, Hokkaido Prefecture. (AFP)

Speed isn't everything at one racecourse in Japan, where the unpredictable stop-and-start drama of the world's slowest horse race has drawn new fans eager to bet on their sturdy favorite.

A fanfare plays, the gates flip open and they're off -- but at a plod rather than a gallop, pulling heavy sleighs in a tradition that harks back more than a century.

The Banei Keiba races are held in Obihiro, a city in northern Japan's Hokkaido, where spectators cheer on the muscular workhorses moving at the pace of a brisk human walk.

Eight equine competitors kicked up dust on a recent afternoon as they powered over the first of two mounds on the 200-meter (220-yard) track.

But they soon began to halt, taking the first of several breaks to catch their breath, which billowed in the winter air.

The slow progress "builds a little bit of suspense", 24-year-old Australian tourist Esther McCourt told AFP, marveling at the horses' size.

"No matter how good people or horses look in the beginning, the crucial part is the last 50 meters, so it can change at any time," she said.

The popularity of Banei Keiba had dwindled until renewed marketing efforts coincided with a surge of interest during the pandemic, when people began to watch the races.

'Dynamic' races

Banei Keiba developed when Japanese settlers migrated to Hokkaido, a sparsely populated island with long, bitter winters.

They relied on horses known as "banba" to clear fields, transport goods and operate mines, and would pit them against each other in tug-of-war games and other contests at local festivals.

Banba are twice as heavy as racing thoroughbreds, and the sleighs they tug weigh more than 600 kilograms (1,300 pounds).

Jockeys standing on the sleighs shout and whip the horses with long reins to keep them going.

Trainers like Yoshiyuki Hattori deny any accusations of cruelty, saying the strong creatures are treated with care and are not forced to pull loads above their capacity.

"If thoroughbreds were born to run, banba were bred to haul things," said Hattori, whose horses have won many race trophies.

"They worked in fields. They worked for us. We want to continue this history."

For Hattori, Banei races are "more dynamic" than the "visual experience" of regular horse racing.

"This moves you physically as you cheer," he said.

'Can't help but cheer'

Three other cities in the region used to host similar races, but they all stopped under mountains of debt in 2006.

The long-stagnant Japanese economy had hit Banei Keiba hard, and the regular punters who kept it going were getting older.

Obihiro Racecourse, now the tradition's sole custodian, made efforts to attract more young families and tourists by cleaning up the facility and making it smoke-free.

They set up a mini-zoo and launched marketing campaigns including tie-ups with popular smartphone games to rejuvenate the attraction.

Now there are around 750 horses taking part in the races, kept by 28 trainers, 150 caretakers and 21 jockeys.

One of the caretakers, 21-year-old Yuno Goto, was busy affixing pale pink and blue fluffy bows and ribbons on a banba's mane ahead of the race.

She said she dreams of becoming a jockey one day, and called the event "a great opportunity to expose people to this culture, and to provide a different experience from other horse races".

Spectator Taichi Yamada, 27, who moved to the region last year, also said knowing the race's origins adds to its appeal.

"This is a form of interaction between humans and animals. I hope it will continue as a piece of history," he told AFP.

"It must be tough for horses to pull this much weight. You can't help but cheer for them."



Mosul’s Renowned Minaret Restored from Ravages of ISIS

A view of the Al-Hadba Minaret in the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, which was rebuilt after it was blown up by ISIS militants, in Mosul, Iraq, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily/File Photo
A view of the Al-Hadba Minaret in the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, which was rebuilt after it was blown up by ISIS militants, in Mosul, Iraq, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily/File Photo
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Mosul’s Renowned Minaret Restored from Ravages of ISIS

A view of the Al-Hadba Minaret in the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, which was rebuilt after it was blown up by ISIS militants, in Mosul, Iraq, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily/File Photo
A view of the Al-Hadba Minaret in the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, which was rebuilt after it was blown up by ISIS militants, in Mosul, Iraq, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily/File Photo

Mosul’s Grand al-Nuri Mosque, known for its eight-century-old leaning minaret, destroyed by ISIS militants in 2017, has been renovated in a boost for Iraq's second city as it rebuilds after long years of war.

From the pulpit of this medieval mosque on July 4, 2014, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a self-styled ‘caliphate’ spanning parts of Syria and Iraq.

Three years later, the ultra hardline group demolished the mosque in the final weeks of a US-backed Iraqi campaign that ousted the militants from Mosul, their de facto capital in Iraq.

Protracted and fierce urban warfare largely reduced the historic landmarks of Iraq's second city to rubble.

Mahmoud Thannon, 70, a tailor who lives near the mosque and runs a tailor shop overlooking the mosque’s minaret, said his two sons were killed before the al-Hadba minaret was demolished.

"When I saw it collapse, I felt even sadder than when I lost my sons," he said. "Watching the Hadba minaret rise again is a joyous day. I feel our pride soaring high as well.”

“My dear martyred sons would be proud to see the minaret rebuilt if they were alive.” said Thannon, speaking inside his shop with images of his two sons hanging behind him.

He broke into tears as he recalled their deaths by shelling in May and June 2017 in the war against ISIS.

Reconstruction and restoration of the mosque and minaret were carried out in partnership with the UN cultural agency UNESCO, the European Union (EU) and the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said over $115 million were mobilized from no less than 15 partners.

“The fact to have it (the minaret) here behind me is like history coming back; is like the identity of this city coming back,” said Azoulay in a speech delivered on February 5 near the mosque to celebrate the completion of the rebuilding work.

The Iraqis called the 150-foot (45-meter) leaning minaret Al-Hadba, or "the hunchback."

The mosque was named after Nuruddin al-Zanki, a noble who fought the early crusaders from a fiefdom that covered territory in modern-day Türkiye, Syria and Iraq. It was built in 1172-73, shortly before his death, and housed an Islamic school.

The Old City's stone buildings, where the mosque is located, date mostly from the medieval period. They include market stalls, a few mosques and churches, and small houses built and rebuilt on top of each other over the ages.