February Stakes
Horse race
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The February Stakes (フェブラリーステークス) is a Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan.[2]
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2023 February Stakes winner Lemon Pop | |
| Class | Grade 1 |
|---|---|
| Location | Tokyo Racecourse |
| Inaugurated | February 18, 1984 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1,600 meters |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Track | Left-handed |
| Qualification | 4-y-o+ |
| Weight | 4-y-o & up 58 kg Allowances 2 kg for fillies and mares[1] |
| Purse | ¥ 259,200,000 (as of 2025)
|
| 2026 | ||
 |
 |
 |
| Costa Nova | Wilson Tesoro | W Heart Bond |
Background
The February Stakes is a Grade 1 flat race run over a distance of 1,600 metres (approximately 8 furlongs) at Tokyo Racecourse in late February.[2]
History
Originally inaugurated in 1984 as the February Handicap, it began as a Domestic Grade 3 race.[3] Its status steadily rose over the years: it was promoted to Domestic Grade 2 in 1994, the same year it was renamed the February Stakes.[4] In 1995, the race was opened to horses registered with Japan’s National Association of Racing (NAR), broadening the competitive field.[5] It was further elevated to Domestic Grade 1 in 1997.[4]
In 2007, the race achieved international Grade 1 status and was opened to horses trained outside Japan, significantly enhancing its global profile.[4]
Today, alongside the Champions Cup, the February Stakes is one of only two Grade 1 dirt races organized by the Japan Racing Association (JRA).[3]
In February 2025, Australian jockey Rachel King made history by becoming the first female rider to win a flat Grade 1 race in Japan.[6]
Records
Speed record:
- 1.33.8 – Cafe Pharoah (2022)
Most wins by a horse (3):
- Copano Rickey (2014, 2015)
- Cafe Pharoah (2021, 2022)
- Costa Nova (2025, 2026)
Most wins by a jockey (5):
- Yutaka Take (2003, 2006, 2008, 2015, 2019)
Most wins by a trainer (3):
- Akira Murayama (2012, 2014, 2015)
Most wins by an owner (4):
- Katsumi Yoshida (2012, 2017, 2025, 2026)
Winners
| Year |
Winner |
Age |
Jockey |
Trainer |
Owner |
Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G3 - February Handicap | ||||||
| 1984 | Robaria Amon | 5 | Masato Yoshinaga | Kichisaburo Matsuyama | Uraichi Suga | 1:40.1 |
| 1985 | Andre Amon | 6 | Hiroyuki Nakajima | Yasuhisa Matsuyama | Amon Inc. | 1:36.9 |
| 1986 | Hatsuno Amoy | 5 | Eizaburo Otsuka | Yoshio Nakazumi | Hatsutaro Nakagawa | 1:36.7 |
| 1987 | Rikisan Power | 6 | Masato Shibata | Kunio Takamatsu | Saburo Iwai | 1:36.5 |
| 1988 | Roman Prince | 7 | Sueo Masuzawa | Seizuke Sato | Long Shoji co. | 1:37.7 |
| 1989 | Velvet Glob | 6 | Hiroyuki Gohara | Fusamatsu Okubo | Hideo Kuribayashi | 1:37.2 |
| 1990 | Carib Song | 4 | Masato Shibata | Shuho Kato | Ogifushi Bokujo RC co. | 1:36.7 |
| 1991 | Narita Hayabusa | 4 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Kentaro Nakao | Hidenori Yamaji | 1:34.9 |
| 1992 | Russian Gold | 4 | Masayoshi Ebina | Yokichi Okubo | Akihiro Ohara | 1:35.4 |
| 1993 | Meisho Homura | 5 | Masato Shibata | Shigetada Takahashi | Yoshio Matsumoto | 1:35.7 |
| G2 - February Stakes | ||||||
| 1994 | Cheers Atom | 5 | Masaru Honda | Kaoru Hoshikawa | Kiyoko Kitamura | 1:37.8 |
| 1995 | Lively Mount | 4 | Mamoru Ishibashi | Fujio Shibata | Tetsuo Kato | 1:36.4 |
| 1996 | Hokuto Vega | 6 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Takayoshi Nakano | Kanamorimori Shoji | 1:36.5 |
| G1 - February Stakes | ||||||
| 1997 | Shinko Windy | 4 | Yukio Okabe | Kiyotaka Tanaka | Osamu Yasuda | 1:36.0 |
| 1998 | Gourmet Frontier | 6 | Yukio Okabe | Kiyotaka Tanaka | Masayoshi Ishii | 1:37.5 |
| 1999 | Meisei Opera # | 5 | Isao Sugawara | Shuichi Sasaki | Meisei Shoji co. | 1:36.5 |
| 2000 | Wing Arrow | 5 | Olivier Peslier | Yoshimi Kudo | Minoru Ikeda | 1:35.6 |
| 2001 | Nobo True | 5 | Olivier Peslier | Hideyuki Mori | Ikebata | 1:35.6 |
| 2002 | Agnes Digital | 5 | Hirofumi Shii | Toshiaki Shirai | Takao Watanabe | 1:35.1 |
| 2003 | Gold Allure * | 4 | Yutaka Take | Yasuo Ikee | Shadai Race Horse co. | 1:50.9 |
| 2004 | Admire Don | 5 | Katsumi Ando | Hiroyoshi Matsuda | Riichi Kondo | 1:36.8 |
| 2005 | Meisho Bowler | 4 | Yuichi Fukunaga | Toshiaki Shirai | Yoshio Matsumoto | 1:34.7 |
| 2006 | Kane Hekili | 4 | Yutaka Take | Katsuhiko Sumii | Makoto Kaneko | 1:34.9 |
| 2007 | Sunrise Bacchus | 5 | Katsumi Ando | Hidetaka Otonashi | Takao Matsuoka | 1:34.8 |
| 2008 | Vermilion | 6 | Yutaka Take | Sei Ishizaka | Sunday Racing | 1:35.3 |
| 2009 | Success Brocken | 4 | Hiroyuki Uchida | Hideaki Fujiwara | Tetsu Takashima | 1:34.6 |
| 2010 | Espoir City | 5 | Tetsuzo Sato | Akio Adachi | Yushun Horse Club | 1:34.9 |
| 2011 | Transcend | 5 | Shinji Fujita | Takayuki Yasuda | Koji Maeda | 1.36.4 |
| 2012 | Testa Matta | 6 | Yasunari Iwata | Akira Murayama | Katsumi Yoshida | 1.35.4 |
| 2013 | Grape Brandy | 5 | Suguru Hamanaka | Takayuki Yasuda | Shadai Race Horse co. | 1.35.1 |
| 2014 | Copano Rickey | 4 | Hironobu Tanabe | Akira Murayama | Sachiaki Kobayashi | 1.36.0 |
| 2015 | 5 | Yutaka Take | 1.36.3 | |||
| 2016 | Moanin | 4 | Mirco Demuro | Sei Ishizaka | Yukio Baba | 1.34.0 |
| 2017 | Gold Dream | 4 | Mirco Demuro | Osamu Hirata | Katsumi Yoshida | 1.35.1 |
| 2018 | Nonkono Yume | 6 | Hiroyuki Uchida | Yukihiro Kato | Kazumasa Yamada | 1.36.0 |
| 2019 | Inti | 5 | Yutaka Take | Kenji Nonaka | Shigeo Takeda | 1.35.6 |
| 2020 | Mozu Ascot | 6 | Christophe Lemaire | Yoshito Yahagi | Capital System | 1.35.2 |
| 2021 | Cafe Pharoah | 4 | Christophe Lemaire | Noriyuki Hori | Koichi Nishikawa | 1.34.4 |
| 2022 | 5 | Yuichi Fukunaga | 1.33.8 | |||
| 2023 | Lemon Pop | 5 | Ryusei Sakai | Hiroyasu Tanaka | Godolphin | 1.35.6 |
| 2024 | Peptide Nile | 6 | Yusuke Fujioka | Hidenori Take | Kazuhiko Numakawa | 1:35.7 |
| 2025 | Costa Nova | 5 | Rachel King | Tetsuya Kimura | Katsumi Yoshida | 1:35.5 |
| 2026 | 6 | Christophe Lemaire | 1:35.4 | |||
* The 2003 race took place at Nakayama Racecourse in distance of 1,800m.