[Kitan]

Chapter three today at Kyoto Racecourse was a truly unique experience. Spent the morning in awe staring at famous Buddhist statues (google Sanjusangendo to see what I mean) before hopping on a train traveling into the countryside, where suddenly the grandstand appeared out of nowhere as we approached the station. Nothing overly special compared to the previous two tracks, but it has the lone circular parade ring in Japan, a large pond in the infield, and a great undulation (both rise and drop) approaching and on the far turn. It is also much smaller---"only" 54k was the most that packed for one of the G1 features in the fall (79k attended the Tenno Sho in May) and the crowd today was much less than that (midweek and not in the Tokyo area) while still being quite full. Made it much more comfortable to move around and watch the races, including a G3 featuring a few who have regularly contested G1s. Comfort didn't seem to help the wallet, though, as these trips are becoming quite costly from a wagering perspective...