Tennō Shō (Autumn)
Horse race
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The Tennō Shō (Autumn) (天皇賞（秋）; lit. 'Emperor Prize (Autumn)') is an International Grade I horse race held at Tokyo Racecourse, Japan in late October or early November. It is run over a distance of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) on turf. It is considered the first leg of the Japanese Autumn Triple Crown, the other two being the Japan Cup and the Arima Kinen.
_2023(IMG1).jpg) Equinox winning the 168th Tennō Shō | |
| Class | Int'l Grade 1 |
|---|---|
| Location | Tokyo Racecourse, Fuchu, Tokyo |
| Inaugurated | December 3, 1937 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred |
| Website | japanracing |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 2000 meters (About 10 furlongs / 1+1⁄4 miles) |
| Surface | Turf |
| Track | Left-handed |
| Qualification | 3-y-o & Up, Thoroughbreds |
| Weight | 3-y-o 56 kg \ 4-y-o & up 58 kg Allowances 2 kg for fillies and mares |
| Purse | ¥ 648,000,000 (as of 2025)
|
| Bonuses | Winner of the following in the same year: Tenno Sho (Autumn), Japan Cup, Arima Kinen[1] Domestic: ¥ 300,000,000 International: ¥ 150,000,000 Winner of any three of the following in the same year: Ōsaka Hai, Tenno Sho (Spring/Autumn), Japan Cup, Takarazuka Kinen, Arima Kinen Domestic: ¥ 200,000,000 International: ¥ 100,000,000 |
Originally, the Autumn Tennō Shō was run over a distance of 3,200 metres (10,500 ft), but was shortened to its current distance in 1984 to promote middle-distance horses and to promote 3-year-old horses as a shorter-distance alternative to the Kikuka Sho, the Japanese St. Leger, which is 3,000 metres (9,800 ft).
History
Early years
One of the origin of the Tennō Shō is The Emperor's Cup first contested at Negishi Racecourse in 1905, prized from the Emperor for the winner, and later renamed as Teishitsu Goshōten until 1937. Another origin is Yushō Naikokusanba Rengō Kyōsō run over 3,200 metres, held twice a year between 1911 and 1937 to determine the best horse of the year. The Tennō Shō was established in 1937 to unify these prestigious races under the name of the Emperor, and therefore it is regarded as the most prestigious horse race in Japan since then.
Prior to 1980, a horse winning a Tennō Shō was not allowed to participate in future editions of the race again, but this ban was lifted in 1981.[2]
Contrary to the Tennō Shō (Spring) held at Kyoto Racecourse, that has only one mare winner Leda in 1953, there are 10 mare winners at the Tennō Shō (Autumn) when its distance was 3,200 metres until 1983; Hisatomo (1938), Nipatois (1942), Yashima Daughter (1950), Queen Narubi (1953), Opal Orchid (1954), Cellulose (1958), Garnet (1959), Kurihide (1962), Tomei (1971) and Pretty Cast (1980) are the mare winners of this race.
Recent years
In 1984, the Japan Racing Association introduced Group races into their big races, and Tennō Shō is designated as Grade 1 (domestic grade at that time). At the same time the distance of the Tennō Shō (Autumn) was shortened from 3,200 metres to 2,000 metres, while the Tennō Shō (Spring) held at Kyoto Racecourse remained its distance as 3,200 metres, thus the Tennō Shō (Autumn) has changed its characteristics to determine best middle-distance horse, while Tennō Shō (Spring) remained its characteristics to determine best stayer.
Prior to 2000, the participants of the Tennō Shō was limited to the horses born and trained in Japan. In 2000, maximum of two foreign-bred horses trained in Japan acquired the rights to participate the race[3], and then became an international horse race in 2005[4], maximum of five foreign-trained horses can run the race. In 2008, the race also became open to geldings.
Since the distance of the race was shortened to 2,000 metres in 1984, there are five mare winners at the Tennō Shō (Autumn); Air Groove (1997), Heavenly Romance (2005), Vodka (2008), Buena Vista (2010) and Almond Eye (2019 and 2020) are the mare winners of this race.
The current record holder for this race is Equinox who set up a time of 1:55.2 in 2023, beating previous record holder Tosen Jordan by point nine seconds.[5]
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The Tennō Shō (Autumn) was held in the Emperor's presence three times, in 2005, 2012 and 2023. Winning jockey in 2005 (Mikio Matsunaga, riding on Heavenly Romance) and 2023 (Christophe Lemaire, riding on Equinox) made profound obeisance to the Emperor and the Empress riding on the winner, and in 2012, Mirco Demuro kneeled and performed a profound bow to the Emperor and the Empress after dismounting from the winner Eishin Flash.
Trial races
Trial races provide automatic berths to the winning horses.[6]
| Race | Grade | Racecourse | Distance | Condition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sankei Sho All Comers | GII | Nakayama | 2,200 metres | Winner |
| Mainichi Okan | GII | Tokyo | 1,800 metres | Winner |
| Kyoto Daishoten | GII | Kyoto | 2,400 metres | Winner |
Winners since 1984
| Year |
Winner |
Age |
Jockey |
Trainer |
Owner |
Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Mr. C.B. | 4 | Masato Yoshinaga | Yasuhisa Matsuyama | Chigira Bokujo | 1:59.3 |
| 1985 | Gallop Dyna | 5 | Yasuhiro Nemoto | Susumu Yano | Shadai Racehorse | 1:58.7 |
| 1986 | Sakura Yutaka O | 4 | Futoshi Kojima | Katsutaro Sakai | Sakura Commerce | 1:58.3 |
| 1987 | Nippo Teio | 4 | Hiroyuki Gohara | Kinzo Kubota | Yuichi Yamaishi | 1:59.7 |
| 1988 | Tamamo Cross | 4 | Katsumi Minai | Isami Obara | Tamamo Co., Ltd. | 1:58.8 |
| 1989 | Super Creek | 4 | Yutaka Take | Shuji Ito | Makoto Kikura | 1:59.1 |
| 1990 | Yaeno Muteki | 5 | Yukio Okabe | Mitsuo Ogino | Fuji Ltd. | 1:58.2 |
| 1991 | Prekrasnie [1] | 4 | Teruo Eda | Terumaso Yano | Eijiro Tajima | 2:03.9 |
| 1992 | Let's Go Tarquin | 5 | Shoichi Osaki | Kojiro Hashiguchi | Diners Club Japan | 1:58.6 |
| 1993 | Yamanin Zephyr | 4 | Yoshitomi Shibata | Hironori Kurita | Hajime Doi | 1:58.9 |
| 1994 | Nehai Caesar | 4 | Katsumi Shiomura | Akira Huse | Daimaru Enterprise | 1:58.6 |
| 1995 | Sakura Chitose O | 5 | Futoshi Kojima | Katsutaro Sakai | Sakura Commerce | 1:58.8 |
| 1996 | Bubble Gum Fellow | 3 | Masayoshi Ebina | Kazuo Fujisawa | Shadai Racehorse | 1:58.7 |
| 1997 | Air Groove | 4 | Yutaka Take | Yuji Ito | Lucky Field Co Ltd | 1:59.0 |
| 1998 | Offside Trap | 7 | Yoshitomi Shibata | Shuho Kato | Takashi Watanabe | 1:59.3 |
| 1999 | Special Week | 4 | Yutaka Take | Toshiaki Shirai | Hiroyoshi Usuda | 1:58.0 |
| 2000 | T. M. Opera O | 4 | Ryuji Wada | Ichizo Iwamoto | Masatsugu Takezono | 1:59.9 |
| 2001 | Agnes Digital | 4 | Hirofumi Shii | Toshiaki Shirai | Takao Watanabe | 2:02.0 |
| 2002 | Symboli Kris S [2] | 3 | Yukio Okabe | Kazuo Fujisawa | Symboli Stud | 1:58.5 |
| 2003 | Symboli Kris S | 4 | Olivier Peslier | Kazuo Fujisawa | Symboli Stud | 1:58.0 |
| 2004 | Zenno Rob Roy | 4 | Olivier Peslier | Kazuo Fujisawa | Shinobu Osako | 1:58.9 |
| 2005 | Heavenly Romance | 5 | Mikio Matsunaga | Masashi Yamamoto | North Hills Management | 2:00.1 |
| 2006 | Daiwa Major | 5 | Katsumi Ando | Hiroyuki Uehara | Keizou Ooshiro | 1:58.8 |
| 2007 | Meisho Samson | 4 | Yutaka Take | Shigetada Takahashi | Yoshio Matsumoto | 1:58.4 |
| 2008 | Vodka | 4 | Yutaka Take | Katsuhiko Sumii | Yuzo Tanimizu | 1:57.2 |
| 2009 | Company [3] | 8 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Hidetaka Otonashi | Eiko Kondou | 1:57.2 |
| 2010 | Buena Vista | 4 | Christophe Soumillon | Hiroyoshi Matsuda | Sunday Racing Co Ltd | 1:58.2 |
| 2011 | Tosen Jordan | 5 | Nicola Pinna | Yasutoshi Ikee | Takaya Shimakawa | 1:56.1 |
| 2012 | Eishin Flash | 5 | Mirco Demuro | Hideaki Fujiwara | Toyomitsu Hirai | 1:57.3 |
| 2013 | Just A Way | 4 | Yuichi Fukunaga | Naosuke Sugai | Akatsuki Yamatoya | 1:57.5 |
| 2014 | Spielberg | 5 | Hiroshi Kitamura | Kazuo Fujisawa | Hidetoshi Yamamoto | 1:59.7 |
| 2015 | Lovely Day | 5 | Suguru Hamanaka | Yasutoshi Ikee | Kaneko Makoto Holdings | 1:58.4 |
| 2016 | Maurice | 5 | Ryan Moore | Noriyuki Hori | Kazumi Yoshida | 1:59.3 |
| 2017 | Kitasan Black | 5 | Yutaka Take | Hisashi Shimizu | Ono Shoji | 2:08.3 |
| 2018 | Rey de Oro | 4 | Christophe Lemaire | Kazuo Fujisawa | U Carrot Farm | 1:56.8 |
| 2019 | Almond Eye | 4 | Christophe Lemaire | Sakae Kunieda | Silk Racing | 1:56.2 |
| 2020 | Almond Eye | 5 | Christophe Lemaire | Sakae Kunieda | Silk Racing | 1:57.8 |
| 2021 | Efforia | 3 | Takeshi Yokoyama | Yuichi Shikato | Carrot Farm | 1:57.9 |
| 2022 | Equinox | 3 | Christophe Lemaire | Tetsuya Kimura | Silk Racing | 1:57.5 |
| 2023 | Equinox | 4 | Christophe Lemaire | Tetsuya Kimura | Silk Racing | 1:55.2 |
| 2024 | Do Deuce | 5 | Yutaka Take | Yasuo Tomomichi | Kieffers Co. Ltd. | 1:57.3 |
| 2025 | Masquerade Ball | 3 | Christophe Lemaire | Takahisa Tezuka | Shadai Race Horse Co. Ltd. | 1:58.6 |
1 Mejiro McQueen finished first in 1991 but was demoted to last place following a Stewards' Inquiry.
2 The 2002 Autumn Tennō Shō was contested at Nakayama Racecourse, due to construction at Tokyo Racecourse.
3 Also Japanese record of flat racing for oldest horse winning first G1 race.
Earlier winners
- 1937 – Happy Might
- 1938 - Hisatomo
- 1939 - Tetsumon
- 1940 – Rocky Mor[9]
- 1941 - Estates
- 1942 - Nipatois
- 1943 - Kuri Hikari
- 1944 - No race
- 1945 - No race
- 1946 - No race
- 1947 - Toyo Ume
- 1948 - Katsu Fuji
- 1949 - Newford
- 1950 - Yashima Daughter
- 1951 - Hatakaze
- 1952 - Track O
- 1953 - Queen Narubi
- 1954 - Opal Orchid[10]
- 1955 - Dainana Hoshu
- 1956 - Midfarm
- 1957 - Hakuchikara
- 1958 - Cellulose[11]
- 1959 - Garnet
- 1960 - Ote Mon
- 1961 - Takamagahara
- 1962 - Kurihide
- 1963 - Ryu Forel
- 1964 - Yamato Kyodai
- 1965 - Shinzan
- 1966 - Korehide
- 1967 - Kabuto Ciro
- 1968 - Knit Eight
- 1969 - Mejiro Taiyo
- 1970 - Mejiro Asama
- 1971 - Tomei
- 1972 - Yamanin Wave
- 1973 - Tani no Chikara
- 1974 - Kami no Tesio
- 1975 - Fujino Parthia
- 1976 - Eyeful
- 1977 - Hokuto Boy
- 1978 - Tenmei
- 1979 - Three Giants
- 1980 - Pretty Cast
- 1981 - Hoyo Boy
- 1982 - Mejiro Titan
- 1983 - Kyoei Promise