Tokyo Yūshun

Grade 1 race
Tokyo Yūshun
Japanese Derby
東京優駿
日本ダービー
Location Tokyo Racecourse, Fuchū, Tokyo
Inaugurated 1932
Race type Thoroughbred Flat racing
Race information
Distance 2400 meters
Track Turf, Left-handed
Qualification 3-y-o, Colts & Fillies
Weight Colt 57 kg, Filly 55 kg
Purse ¥286,000,000 (as of 2011)

The Tokyo Yūshun (東京優駿?), also called as the Japanese Derby (日本ダービー Nippon Dābii?) is a Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan for three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies run over a distance of 2,400 metres (approximately 1 mile 4 furlongs) at the Tokyo Racecourse, Fuchū, Tokyo in late May or early June.

It was first run in 1932 and is the Japanese equivalent of the English Epsom Derby. It is the second leg of the Japanese Triple Crown, preceded by the Satsuki Shō (the Japanese equivalent of the English 2,000 Guineas) in mid-late April and followed by the Kikuka Shō (the Japanese equivalent of the English St. Leger Stakes) in mid-late October.

Starting in 2010, the Tokyo Yūshun (along with several other JRA Japanese domestic Grade 1 races, including the other Japanese classics such as the Satsuki Shō and the Kikuka Shō) is open to international competition due to Japan's inclusion in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities' ICS Part I category, in which all graded black-type races in the JRA calendar are open to international competition. Races prior to 2010 were only limited to Japanese-trained horses.

Winners since 2001

Year
Winner
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
Time
2001 Jungle Pocket Koichi Tsunoda Sakae Watanabe Yomoji Saito 2:27.0
2002 Tanino Gimlet Yutaka Take Kunihide Matsuda Yuzo Tanimizu 2:26.2
2003 Neo Universe Mirco Demuro Tsutomu Setoguchi Shadai Racehorse Co. Ltd. 2:28.5
2004 King Kamehameha Katsumi Ando Kunihide Matsuda Makoto Kaneko 2:23.3
2005 Deep Impact Yutaka Take Yasuo Ikee Makoto Kaneko 2:23.3
2006 Meisho Samson Mamoru Ishibashi Tsutomu Setoguchi Yoshio Matsumoto 2:27.9
2007 Vodka Hirofumi Shii Katsuhiko Sumii Yuzo Tanimizu 2:24.5
2008 Deep Sky Hirofumi Shii Mitsugu Kon Toshio Fukami 2:26.7
2009 Logi Universe Norihiro Yokoyama Kiyoshi Hagawara Masaaki Kumeta 2:33.7
2010 Eishin Flash Hiroyuki Uchida Hideaki Fujiwara Tomomitsu Hirai 2:26.9
2011 Orfevre Ken-ichi Ikezoe Yasutoshi Ikee Sunday Racing Co. Ltd. 2:30.5

Earlier winners

  • 1932 - Wakataka
  • 1933 - Kabutoyama
  • 1934 - Fray Mor
  • 1935 - Governor
  • 1936 - Tokumasa
  • 1937 - Hisatomo
  • 1938 - Sugenuma
  • 1939 - Kumohata
  • 1940 - Ieryu
  • 1941 - St Lite
  • 1942 - Minami Homare
  • 1943 - Kurifuji
  • 1944 - Kaiso
  • 1945 - No race
  • 1946 - No race
  • 1947 - Matsu Midori
  • 1948 - Miharu O
  • 1949 - Tachikaze
  • 1950 - Kumono Hana
  • 1951 - Tokino Minoru
  • 1952 - Kurino Hana
  • 1953 - Bostonian
  • 1954 - Golden Wave
  • 1955 - Otokitsu
  • 1956 - Hakuchikara
  • 1957 - Hikaru Meiji
  • 1958 - Daigo Homare
  • 1959 - Komatsu Hikari
  • 1960 - Kodama
  • 1961 - Hakusho
  • 1962 - Fair Win
  • 1963 - Meizui
  • 1964 - Shinzan
  • 1965 - Keystone
  • 1966 - Teito O
  • 1967 - Asa Denko
  • 1968 - Tanino Harromore
  • 1969 - Daishin Volgard
  • 1970 - Tanino Moutiers
  • 1971 - Hikaru Imai
  • 1972 - Long Ace
  • 1973 - Take Hope
  • 1974 - Colonel Lancer
  • 1975 - Kaburaya O
  • 1976 - Climb Kaiser
  • 1977 - Lucky Ruler
  • 1978 - Sakura Shori
  • 1979 - Katsurano Haiseiko
  • 1980 - Opec Horse
  • 1981 - Katsu Top Ace
  • 1982 - Bamboo Atlas
  • 1983 - Mr. C.B.
  • 1984 - Symboli Rudolf
  • 1985 - Sirius Symboli
  • 1986 - Dyna Gulliver
  • 1987 - Merry Nice
  • 1988 - Sakura Chiyono O
  • 1989 - Winner's Circle
  • 1990 - Ines Fujin
  • 1991 - Tokai Teio
  • 1992 - Mihono Bourbon
  • 1993 - Winning Ticket
  • 1994 - Narita Brian
  • 1995 - Tayasu Tsuyoshi
  • 1996 - Fusaichi Concorde
  • 1997 - Sunny Brian
  • 1998 - Special Week
  • 1999 - Admire Vega
  • 2000 - Agnes Flight