Kokura Himba Stakes
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 Kokura Racecourse | |
| Class | Grade 3 |
|---|---|
| Location | Kokura Racecourse |
| Inaugurated | January 25, 2025 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred Flat racing |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 2,000 meters |
| Surface | Turf |
| Track | Right-handed |
| Qualification | 4-y-o + fillies and mares |
| Weight | Handicap |
| Purse | ¥ 82,380,000 (as of 2026)
|
The Kokura Himba Stakes (小倉牝馬ステークス) is a Grade 3 (GIII) flat horse race in Japan.[1]
The Kokura Himba Stakes is a Grade III Thoroughbred handicap race in Japan, restricted exclusively to mares aged four years and older.[1] It is held annually in late January at Kokura Racecourse over a distance of 2,000 meters on turf.[1] Eligible entrants must have raced at least once between January 20, 2024, and January 22, 2025, and unraced or maiden horses are excluded.[2] The field includes JRA-trained mares, up to two certified NAR (local) mares, and foreign-trained mares with priority entry. As a handicap race, weights are assigned by the racing secretary based on each mare’s past performance.[2] The first-place prize in 2026 was ¥38 million.[3][1]
History
The Kokura Himba Stakes is a newly established race, with its inaugural running held on January 25, 2025, at Kokura Racecourse.[1] It was created as part of a major restructuring of JRA’s stakes calendar announced on September 23, 2024.[4] Specifically, it inherits the timing (January), grade (GIII), distance (2,000m), surface (turf), and handicap format of the former Aichi Hai, which had been run at Chukyo Racecourse.[5] Concurrently, the Aichi Hai itself was reconfigured to adopt the conditions of the former Kyoto Himba Stakes, moving to March and shortening to 1,400 meters.[6]
Although it carries forward the competitive role of the Aichi Hai, the Kokura Himba Stakes is officially designated as a brand-new stakes race, with its first edition counted as “第1回” (1st running) per the Spring 2025 racing program announced on November 17, 2024.[4] The inaugural 2025 edition resulted in a dead heat between two mares: Verehrung (牝5) and Scintillation (牝6), both trained by prominent JRA stables and ridden by veteran jockeys.[7]