The Yasuda Kinen is a 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...

ese International Grade I

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

 Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

 held at the Tokyo Racecourse

Tokyo Racecourse

is located in Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan. Built in 1933 for horse racing, it is considered the "racecourse of racecourses" in Japanese horseracing. It has 13,750 seats, with a capacity of 223,000....

 in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

. Raced annually each June, the Yasuda Kinen is run at a distance of eight furlongs (one mile) on turf

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

 and is open to horses three years of age and up. The event was first run in 1951 as the Yasuda Sho in honor of Izaemon Yasuda, the founding chairman of the Japan Racing Association

Japan Racing Association

The Japan Racing Association is a public company established to operate Chūō Keiba and to manage racecourses, betting facilities, and horse-training facilities....

. Following the death of Mr. Yasuda, in 1958 the race name was changed to the Yasuda Kinen.

In 1984 the race was promoted to Grade 1 status and in 1993 it was granted International Grade 1 status. In 2005, the race became the final leg of the Asian Mile Challenge

Asian Mile Challenge

The Asian Mile Challenge is a series of four one-mile Thoroughbred horse races. Created in 2005, the series was launched with two races, one in Hong Kong, the other in Japan...

. In addition to the US$1 million first place purse, another US$1 million bonus is given to any horse who wins two legs of the four-race Asian Mile Challenge.

Past winners of the Yasuda Kinen include Oguri Cap

Oguri Cap

Oguri Cap was a Japanese thoroughbred racehorse, sired by Dancing Cap. Oguri Cap was inducted into the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame in 1991.- Racing career :Major Racing Wins...

 and Taiki Shuttle

Taiki Shuttle

Taiki Shuttle is a Japanese Thoroughbred race horse who was voted Japanese Horse of the Year in 1998. He was bred and owned by Taiki Farm and trained by Kazuo Fujisawa....

, both Horse of the Year

Horse of the Year

Horse of the Year is an honor given by various organizations worldwide in harness racing and thoroughbred horse racing.Some of the awards include:* Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year* Breeders' Cup World Championships Poll* European Horse of the Year...

 honorees in Japan in 1990 and 1998 respectively. As well, the race has been won by international horses such as the Godolphin 1995 winner Heart Lake, and Fairy King Prawn who in 2000 became the first Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

-trained horse to ever win a Grade I race outside of Hong Kong. In 2006 another Hong Kong-owned champion, Bullish Luck

Bullish Luck

Bullish Luck is a Hong Kong based Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred in Kentucky, he is the son of the 1990 Breeders' Cup Mile winner Royal Academy and out of the Alysheba mare Wild Vintage...

, won the race and earned the Asian Mile Challenge bonus money for winning both the Yasuda Kinen and the Champions Mile

Champions Mile

The Champions Mile is a Group 1 flat horse race in Hong Kong for three-year-old and above thoroughbreds run over a distance of 1,600 metres on the turf at Sha Tin Racecourse....

 in Hong Kong.

Winners since 1994

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
1994	North Flight	4	Koichi Tsunoda	Keiji Kato	Taihoku Bokujo	1:33.2
1995	Heart Lake	4	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...	Saeed bin Suroor Saeed bin Suroor Saeed bin Suroor , is a horse racing trainer. Formerly a policeman, he took out his training license in 1994 and the following year was appointed as the trainer for Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation....	Godolphin	1:33.2
1996	Trot Thunder	7	Norihiro Yokoyama	Katsutoshi Aikawa	Teruo Fujimoto	1:33.1
1997	Taiki Blizzard	6	Yukio Okabe	Kazuo Fujisawa Kazuo Fujisawa is a trainer of Thoroughbred race horses. He has been a licensed trainer in Japan since 1987 and since 1993 has won the training title eleven times....	Taiki Farm Co.	1:33.8
1998	Taiki Shuttle Taiki Shuttle Taiki Shuttle is a Japanese Thoroughbred race horse who was voted Japanese Horse of the Year in 1998. He was bred and owned by Taiki Farm and trained by Kazuo Fujisawa....	4	Yukio Okabe	Kazuo Fujisawa Kazuo Fujisawa is a trainer of Thoroughbred race horses. He has been a licensed trainer in Japan since 1987 and since 1993 has won the training title eleven times....	Taiki Farm Co.	1:37.5
1999	Air Jihad	4	Masayoshi Ebina Masayoshi Ebina is a Japanese jockey. Nicknamed Ebi-Shō.He is best known for riding El Condor Pasa.That won the Japan Cup and second in Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe .In 2010 he won the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown with Apapane....	Masanori Ito	Lucky Field Co.	1:33.3
2000	Fairy King Prawn	5	Robbie Fradd Robbie Fradd Robbie Fradd is a jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing.Robbie Fradd, has ridden in his native South Africa and in Mauritius, Australia, New Zealand, Dubai, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. He was the leading jockey for the 2000/2001 Hong Kong racing season.-References:*...	Ivan W. Allan	Philip Lau Sak Hong	1:33.9
2001	Black Hawk	7	Norihiro Yokoyama	Sakae Kunieda	Makoto Kaneko 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...	1:33.0
2002	Admire Cozzene	6	Hiroki Goto	Mitsuru Hashida	Riichi Kondo	1:33.3
2003	Agnes Digital	6	Hirofumi Shii	Toshiaki Shirai	Takao Watanabe	1:32.1
2004	Tsurumaru Boy	6	Katsumi Ando	Kojiro Hashiguchi	Takao Tsuruta	1:32.6
2005	Asakusa Den'en	6	Shinji Fujita	Michifumi Kono	Genichiro Tahara	1:32.3
2006	Bullish Luck Bullish Luck Bullish Luck is a Hong Kong based Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred in Kentucky, he is the son of the 1990 Breeders' Cup Mile winner Royal Academy and out of the Alysheba mare Wild Vintage...	7	Brett Prebble	Tony Cruz Anthony S. Cruz Anthony S. "Tony" Cruz is a prominent horse trainer and former Champion Thoroughbred horse racing jockey.-Early life:Son of J. M. da Cruz, himself a well-known jockey, Tony Cruz is of Portuguese descent...	Wong Wing Keung	1:32.6
2007	Daiwa Major	6	Katsumi Ando	Hiroyuki Uehara	Keizo Oshiro	1:32.3
2008	Vodka Vodka (horse) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racemare that won the 2007 Group One Tokyo Yūshun , the first filly to win this race in 64 years, as well as winning the 2009 Japan Cup. She won seven G1 races in Japan and is the highest earning racemare in Thoroughbred history.-Breeding:Vodka was foaled on 4 April 2004...	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...	Katsuhiko Sumii Katsuhiko Sumii is a Japanese horse trainer.He trained the first and second placing horses in the 2006 Melbourne Cup, Delta Blues and Pop Rock.- Famous Horses :* Delta Blues - Won Melbourne Cup , Kikuka Sho (born March 28, 1964, Kanazawa, Ishikawa) is a Japanese horse trainer.He trained the first and second...	Yuzo Tanimizu	1:32.7
2009	Vodka Vodka (horse) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racemare that won the 2007 Group One Tokyo Yūshun , the first filly to win this race in 64 years, as well as winning the 2009 Japan Cup. She won seven G1 races in Japan and is the highest earning racemare in Thoroughbred history.-Breeding:Vodka was foaled on 4 April 2004...	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...	Katsuhiko Sumii Katsuhiko Sumii is a Japanese horse trainer.He trained the first and second placing horses in the 2006 Melbourne Cup, Delta Blues and Pop Rock.- Famous Horses :* Delta Blues - Won Melbourne Cup , Kikuka Sho (born March 28, 1964, Kanazawa, Ishikawa) is a Japanese horse trainer.He trained the first and second...	Yuzo Tanimizu	1:33.5
2010	Showa Modern	6	Hiroki Goto	Hiroaki Sugiura	Keiichi Yamagishi	1:31.7
2011	Real Impact	3	Keita Tosaki	Noriyuki Hori	Carrot Farm Co.	1:32.0

External links

• Horse Racing in Japan