How punters bet £20 billion to fund racing in the Harrods of betting shops

It must be seen to be believed, although even after you have seen it you struggle to believe it.

Within the plush Italian quarter of Tokyo is a betting shop like no other. Betting mall might seem a more accurate description, for the narrow escalator keeps going up and up, from one level to the next. In total, the elegant Wins establishment in Shiodome has no fewer than nine floors. On none of them can you punt on anything other than Japanese horseracing. In this shop, in other shops and outside of shops, the people of Japan do an awful lot of punting.

That punting is what pays for Japanese racing. Even on the showpiece days entrance to racecourses costs less than £1.50 and there are hardly any race sponsors. Despite all that, an average maiden at a Japan Racing Association track boasts a prize fund of around £70,000/€80,000. Betting is the reason why.