While Japanese mobile phone operator Softbank has recently been in the headlines over the hullabaloo surrounding the allegedly large sums of money paid to Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt for their work in the company’s current ad campaign, its affiliate Softbank Players has, after much speculation, taken the much less media friendly option of bailing out debt-ridden sport Banei horse racing.
A peculiar pastime that, for those who don’t follow the sport, involves huge horses pulling even heavier weights up a track that is seemingly designed to slow proceedings down even further.
The racecourses Banei-Keiba are 200-meter-long straight separate courses with two humps in the middle. The whole course is covered with over 30-centimeter deep sand, and horses starting from the starting gate clear the 1-meter high first hump and next fight over the 1.5-meter high second hump. Steel sleighs pulled by the horses are loaded with weights, and horses compete with each other by pulling the over 500-kilogram sleighs.
There again, with the right marketing, Banei does have the potential to be popular with those suffering from heart problems or sleeping disorders — its preposterously ponderous pace and complete lack of excitement possibly making it more effective than beta-blockers or sleeping pills. The 4-minute video below offering a suitably soporific sample.
Arguably the only brief moment of interest — which mercifully happens early on — is the mention of the unusually named horse, Super Clinton. A clip of which, if you are really that interested, can be seen here.
Finally, for those who have watched the video in its entirety, driving or operating heavy machinery is not advisable until you have fully recovered your senses.
Paul says
Considering the whipping those horses were getting, it shouldn’t be funny, but it is. The commentator reminded me of Mo from the Simpsons. And the way the last three or four over the line are still thrashing their horse, despite the fact they’ve lost, coupled with the disgusted silence from the commentator. It’s so slow it’s depressing.
I once saw a TV programme about Indonesia where they were racing teams of cows in a village. To make them go faster, the boys racing them had a stick in each hand smeared with chillis, which they would repeatedly poke up the arse of the cows, all the while hanging onto the yoke by their knees. Now that was fast. They should sponsor that instead.
Lee says
Softbank will need to do something to boost Banei’s popularity, and the chilli smeared stick up the arse would certainly garner some much needed publicity.
There again, maybe they already tried it out on the commentator – hence the rather unusual voice!
Peter says
I’ve never seen a horse race where people can walk along the side of the course and keep pace with the horses…
Debster says
But why do they keep stopping? The one that was winning stopped at the line to let another one go past.
rc says
uhhhh Debster, could it that the horses were tired?
sloth1 says
What a cruel and stupis sport, obviously the so called “jockeys” are stupid as are the people who condone the event.
People should boycott the events, who cares if it’s tradition, and it is has nothing to do with respect for the horse when used in developing the country.
It’s far from funny, in any other country it would be banned. but this also a country that claims they harpoon whales for research too.
Bullshit!!
we should have taken out the whole country during WW2.
Even Saddam Hussein would not allow animlas to be treated in this way.