The Takarazuka Kinen is a Grade I

Conditions races

Conditions races are horse races where the weights carried by the runners are laid down by the conditions attached to the race. Weights are allocated according to; the sex of the runners, with female runners carrying less weight than males; the age of the runners, with younger horses receiving...

 flat

Flat racing

Flat racing is a form of Thoroughbred horse racing which is run over a level track at a predetermined distance. It differs from steeplechase racing which is run over hurdles...

 horse race

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 for three-year-old and above thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

s run over a distance of 2,200 metres (approximately 1⅜ miles) at Hanshin Racecourse

Hanshin Racecourse

is located in Takarazuka, Hyogo, Japan. It is used for horse racing. The land was originally owned by Kawanishi Aircraft Company, which manufactured combat planes during World War II. After the WWII, GHQ ordered the company to stop manufacturing combat planes, which ended in closing the factory. In...

 (阪神競馬場) in late June. It is one of the two "All-Star" races in Japanese horse racing; the other is the Arima Kinen

Arima Kinen

The Arima Kinen is a Grade I flat horse race in Japan open to Thoroughbreds which are three-years-old or above. It is run over a distance of 2,500 metres at Nakayama Racecourse, and it takes place annually in late December...

 (the Grand Prix) in late December.

It was first run in 1960 with a distance of 1,800 metres. From 1961 to 1965 the race was run over 2,000 metres and since 1966 it has been run over its present distance.

The race is run on the turf and is named after the city of Takarazuka

Takarazuka, Hyogo

is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.- Geography :Takarazuka is nestled between the Rokko Range to the west and Nagao Range to the north with the Muko River running through the center of the city....

, Hyōgo

Hyogo Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :...

, the location of Hanshin Racecourse, which is the venue of the race.

As with the Arima Kinen, the majority of the runners in the field are selected by a vote from racing fans, while the remainder are determined by the amount of prizemoney won.

Winners since 1994

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
1994	Biwa Hayahide	4	Yukio Okabe	Mitsumasa Hamada	Biwa Co Ltd	2:11.2
1995	Dantsu Seattle *	5	Yoshiyuki Muramoto	Kenji Yamauchi	Tetsuji Yamamoto	2:10.2
1996	Mayano Top Gun Mayano Top Gun Mayano Top Gun（マヤノトップガン, March 24, 1992 - ） was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. He was sired by Brian's Time with the dam Alp Me Please . In 1995, he was awarded the JRA Award Horse of the Year and Best Three-year-old Colt....	4	Seiki Tabara	Masahiro Sakaguchi	Yuu Tadokoro	2:12.0
1997	Marvelous Sunday	5	Yutaka Take Yutaka Take is a Japanese jockey who is a multiple champion in his homeland and won the Japan Cup in 1999 on the horse Special Week...	Makoto Osawa	Sadao Sasahara	2:11.9
1998	Silence Suzuka Silence Suzuka Silence Suzuka Silence Suzuka Silence Suzuka (Japanese : サイレンススズカ, (March 1, 1994 - November 1, 1998) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Grade I Takarazuka Kinen in 1998.-External links:* *...	4	Katsumi Minai	Mitsuru Hashida	Keiji Nagai	2:11.9
1999	Grass Wonder	4	Hitoshi Matoba	Mitsuhiro Ogata	Y. Hanzawa	2:12.1
2000	T M Opera O T M Opera O T M Opera O was a Japanese thoroughbred racehorse, sired by Opera House, a son of Sadler's Wells, out of Once Wed, a daughter of Blushing Groom. T.M. Opera O was inducted into the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame in 2004.T.M. Opera O was the world's all-time leading money-earner...	4	Ryuji Wada	Ichizo Iwamoto	Masatsugu Takezono	2:13.8
2001	Meisho Doto	5	Yasuhiko Yasuda	Isao Yasuda	Yoshio Matsumoto	2:11.7
2002	Dantsu Flame	4	Shinji Fujita	Kenji Yamauchi	Tetsuji Yamamoto	2:12.9
2003	Hishi Miracle	4	Koichi Tsunoda	Masaru Sayama	Masaichiro Abe	2:12.0
2004	Tap Dance City	7	Tetsuzo Sato	Shozo Sasaki	Yushun Horse Club	2:11.1
2005	Sweep Tosho	4	Kenichi Ikezoe	Akio Tsurudome	Tosho Sangyo	2:11.5
2006	Deep Impact *	4	Yutaka Take	Yasuo Ikee	Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co Ltd Makoto Kaneko is the President, CEO and Representative Director of Zuken Inc., a public listed multinational corporation in the Tokyo Stock Exchange.Makoto Kaneko is better known as a prominent horse owner in Japan...	2:13.0
2007	Admire Moon Admire Moon is a Japanese racehorse who won the 2007 Dubai Duty Free Stakes, Takarazuka Kinen and Japan Cup.- GI Races :Admire Moon ran in the Satsuki Sho in 2006, his first Grade I race in his career. He placed 4th to Meisho Samson...	4	Yasunari Iwata Yasunari Iwata is a Japanese jockey who rode the winner of the 2006 Melbourne Cup, Delta Blues. It was Iwata's first race outside of Japan.In 2005, Iwata won the 19th World Super Jockey Series .-Major wins: Australia...	Hiroyoshi Matsuda	Riichi Kondo	2:12.4
2008	Eishin Deputy	6	Hiroyuki Uchida	Akira Nomoto	Toyomitsu Hirai	2:15.3
2009	Dream Journey	5	Kenichi Ikezoe	Yasutoshi Ikee	Sunday Racing	2:11.3
2010	Nakayama Festa Nakayama Festa is a champion Japanese thoroughbred racehorse, which is most notable for winning the 2010 Takarazuka Kinen and running second to Workforce in the 2010 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.-Pedigree:...	4	Yoshitomi Shibata Yoshitomi Shibata is a Japanese jockey .Shibata has had a successful career, winning many Japanese races multiple times.He was Eastern Japan champion jockey in 2002, 2003 and 2004.-Career wins in Japan:- Major wins : Japan...	Yoshitaka Ninomiya	Shinichi Izumi	2:13.0
2011	Earnestly	6	Sato Tetsuzo	Sasaki Shozo	Koji Maeda	2:10.1

* The 1995 and 2006 races took place at Kyoto Racecourse

Kyoto Racecourse

is located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is used for horse racing. It has a capacity of 120,000. It was built in 1999. It has 28,000 seats.-Physical attributes:Kyoto Race Course has two turf courses, a dirt course, and a jump course....

.

External links

• Horse Racing in Japan