To say Masahiro Tanaka follows horse racing would be wrong. However, thanks to an introduction to the sport via video games as a youngster in Japan, he might like to use some of the $155 million he got from the Yankees to own thoroughbreds when his pitching gig is complete.
“It’s hard to say, maybe after my baseball career,” Tanaka said last week through an interpreter when asked about an interest in one day owning race horses. “Hopefully I can keep my career as long as I can. Then eventually I can get into possibly owning a horse.”
Since Tanaka is 25, there would appear to be plenty of time before he can dabble in a sport that requires a lot of money, patience and luck.
With California Chrome attempting to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 at a jammed Belmont Park, Tanaka was asked if was aware how big of a deal it is in New York.
“I don’t know much about it,” Tanaka said. “The only thing I know is that California Chrome has dominated the other races.”
By Saturday, even the most casual horse racing fan will know all about California Chrome and what a victory by him will do for a sport that could use an infusion of fans from Tanaka’s generation.
Yet, according to Tanaka, the Triple Crown interest in Japan will be there, but to what degree he doesn’t know.
“Maybe the real core fans might be following it,” Tanaka said. “But honestly, I don’t know.”
Asked if he was a core fan, Tanaka replied, “I like it very much.”
There are several ways to get introduced to horse racing. Your father or uncles took you to the track. It was part of the daily newspaper. Bookies took the action. The slots were close to the pari-mutuel windows. Perhaps you grew up with a sport that can break your heart and bank account and primarily is run by rich people.
Then there is the way Tanaka migrated toward it.
“Since I was a kid I really liked playing those Nintendo games on horses, so that was the start for me,” Tanaka said.
Based on some of the extremely inviting purses in Japan, horse racing is alive.
“There are a lot,” Tanaka said of the number of high stakes races in Japan.
The Grade 1 Japan Cup, a 1 ½-mile turf race, is worth $5.6 million. The biggest purse in America is the Breeders Cub Classic at $5 million. The Japanese Triple Crown consists of Satsuki Sho, Tokyo Yushun and Kikuka Sho.