Tennō Shō (Spring)

Tennō Shō (Spring)

The Tennō Shō (Spring) (天皇賞（春）; lit. 'Emperor Prize (Spring)') is an International Grade I horse race held at Kyoto Racecourse, Japan in late April or early May. It is run over a distance of 3,200 metres (10,500 ft) on turf, and is the longest Grade 1 race in Japan.

Deep Impact won the 2006 version of the race setting the world record for a 3,200-metre race with a time of 3:13.4, beating the World Record set in the 1988 Wellington Cup by Daria's Fun, held for almost 20 years of 3:15.59, the closest time run in the Melbourne Cup is 3:16.3. Deep Impact's record stood until Kitasan Black won in 3:12.5 in 2017. The average time for the Tennō Shō from 1990 to 2018 is 3:16.7, while the same for the Melbourne Cup is 3:21.1, a difference of 4.4 seconds. In the race's history only one mare has won; Leda, in 1953.

Winners since 1990

Tennō Shō (Spring)

<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Winner</th><th>Age</th><th>Jockey</th><th>Trainer</th><th>Owner</th><th>Time</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1990</td><td>Super Creek</td><td>5</td><td>Yutaka Take</td><td>Syuuji Itou</td><td>Makoto Kikura</td><td>3:21.9</td></tr><tr><td>1991</td><td>Mejiro McQueen</td><td>4</td><td>Yutaka Take</td><td>Yasuo Ikee</td><td>Mejiro Stud</td><td>3:18.8</td></tr><tr><td>1992</td><td>Mejiro McQueen</td><td>5</td><td>Yutaka Take</td><td>Yasuo Ikee</td><td>Mejiro Stud</td><td>3:20.0</td></tr><tr><td>1993</td><td>Rice Shower</td><td>4</td><td>Hitoshi Matoba</td><td>Yoshitsugu Iizuka</td><td>Hideo Kurabayashi</td><td>3:17.1</td></tr><tr><td>1994</td><td>Biwa Hayahide[a]</td><td>4</td><td>Yukio Okabe</td><td>Mitsumasa Hamada</td><td>Biwa Co Ltd</td><td>3:22.6</td></tr><tr><td>1995</td><td>Rice Shower</td><td>6</td><td>Hitoshi Matoba</td><td>Yoshitsugu Iizuka</td><td>Hideo Kurabayashi</td><td>3:19.9</td></tr><tr><td>1996</td><td>Sakura Laurel</td><td>5</td><td>Norihiro Yokoyama</td><td>Katsutarou Sakai</td><td>Sakura Commerce</td><td>3:17.8</td></tr><tr><td>1997</td><td>Mayano Top Gun</td><td>5</td><td>Seiki Tabara</td><td>Masahiro Sakaguchi</td><td>Yuu Tadokoro</td><td>3:14.4</td></tr><tr><td>1998</td><td>Mejiro Bright</td><td>4</td><td>Hiroshi Kawachi</td><td>Hidekazu Asami</td><td>Mejiro Stud</td><td>3:15.3</td></tr><tr><td>1999</td><td>Special Week</td><td>4</td><td>Yutaka Take</td><td>Toshiaki Shirai</td><td>Hiroyoshi Usuda</td><td>3:17.1</td></tr><tr><td>2000</td><td>T. M. Opera O</td><td>4</td><td>Ryuji Wada</td><td>Ichizo Iwamoto</td><td>Masatsugu Takezono</td><td>3:17.6</td></tr><tr><td>2001</td><td>T. M. Opera O</td><td>5</td><td>Ryuji Wada</td><td>Ichizo Iwamoto</td><td>Masatsugu Takezono</td><td>3:16.2</td></tr><tr><td>2002</td><td>Manhattan Cafe</td><td>4</td><td>Masayoshi Ebina</td><td>Futoshi Kojima</td><td>Ken Nishikawa</td><td>3:19.5</td></tr><tr><td>2003</td><td>Hishi Miracle</td><td>4</td><td>Koichi Tsunoda</td><td>Masaru Sayama</td><td>Masaichiro Abe</td><td>3:17.0</td></tr><tr><td>2004</td><td>Ingrandire</td><td>5</td><td>Norihiro Yokoyama</td><td>Yoshinami Shimizu</td><td>Chizu Yoshida</td><td>3:18.4</td></tr><tr><td>2005</td><td>Suzuka Mambo</td><td>4</td><td>Katsumi Ando</td><td>Mitsuru Hashida</td><td>Keiji Nagai</td><td>3:16.5</td></tr><tr><td>2006</td><td>Deep Impact</td><td>4</td><td>Yutaka Take</td><td>Yasuo Ikee</td><td>Makoto Kaneko</td><td>3:13.4</td></tr><tr><td>2007</td><td>Meisho Samson</td><td>4</td><td>Mamoru Ishibashi</td><td>Shigetada Takahashi</td><td>Yoshio Matsumoto</td><td>3:14.1</td></tr><tr><td>2008</td><td>Admire Jupiter</td><td>5</td><td>Yasunari Iwata</td><td>Yasuo Tomomichi</td><td>Riichi Kondo</td><td>3:15.1</td></tr><tr><td>2009</td><td>Meiner Kitz</td><td>6</td><td>Masami Matsuoka</td><td>Sakae Kunieda</td><td>Thoroughbred Club Ruffian</td><td>3:14.4</td></tr><tr><td>2010</td><td>Jaguar Mail</td><td>6</td><td>Craig Williams</td><td>Noriyuki Hori</td><td>Ken Yoshida</td><td>3:15.7</td></tr><tr><td>2011</td><td>Hiruno d'Amour</td><td>4</td><td>Shinji Fujita</td><td>Mitsugu Kon</td><td>Hashimoto Bokujo</td><td>3:20.6</td></tr><tr><td>2012</td><td>Beat Black</td><td>5</td><td>Syu Ishibashi</td><td>Hitoshi Nakamura</td><td>Koji Maeda</td><td>3:13.8</td></tr><tr><td>2013</td><td>Fenomeno</td><td>4</td><td>Masayoshi Ebina</td><td>Hirofumi Toda</td><td>Sunday Racing</td><td>3:14.2</td></tr><tr><td>2014</td><td>Fenomeno</td><td>5</td><td>Masayoshi Ebina</td><td>Hirofumi Toda</td><td>Sunday Racing</td><td>3:15.1</td></tr><tr><td>2015</td><td>Gold Ship</td><td>6</td><td>Norihiro Yokoyama</td><td>Naosuke Sugai</td><td>Kobayashi Eiichi Holdings</td><td>3:14.7</td></tr><tr><td>2016</td><td>Kitasan Black</td><td>4</td><td>Yutaka Take</td><td>Hisashi Shimizu</td><td>Ono Shoji</td><td>3:15.3</td></tr><tr><td>2017</td><td>Kitasan Black</td><td>5</td><td>Yutaka Take</td><td>Hisashi Shimizu</td><td>Ono Shoji</td><td>3:12.5</td></tr><tr><td>2018</td><td>Rainbow Line</td><td>5</td><td>Yasunari Iwata</td><td>Hidekazu Asami</td><td>Masahiro Mita</td><td>3:16.2</td></tr><tr><td>2019</td><td>Fierement</td><td>4</td><td>Christophe Lemaire</td><td>Takahisa Tezuka</td><td>Sunday Racing</td><td>3:15.0</td></tr><tr><td>2020</td><td>Fierement</td><td>5</td><td>Christophe Lemaire</td><td>Takahisa Tezuka</td><td>Sunday Racing</td><td>3:16.5</td></tr><tr><td>2021</td><td>World Premiere[b]</td><td>5</td><td>Yuichi Fukunaga</td><td>Yasuo Tomomichi</td><td>Ryoichi Otsuka</td><td>3:14.7</td></tr><tr><td>2022</td><td>Titleholder[b]</td><td>4</td><td>Kazuo Yokoyama</td><td>Toru Kurita</td><td>Hiroshi Yamada</td><td>3:16.2</td></tr><tr><td>2023</td><td>Justin Palace</td><td>4</td><td>Christophe Lemaire</td><td>Haruki Sugiyama</td><td>Masahiro Miki</td><td>3:16.1</td></tr><tr><td>2024</td><td>T O Royal</td><td>6</td><td>Yuji Hishida</td><td>Inao Okada</td><td>Tomoya Ozasa</td><td>3:14.2</td></tr><tr><td>2025</td><td>Redentor</td><td>4</td><td>Damian Lane</td><td>Tetsuya Kimura</td><td>U Carrot Farm</td><td>3:14.0</td></tr></tbody></table>

a The 1994 race was contested at Hanshin Racecourse. b The 2021 and 2022 races were contested at Hanshin Racecourse, due to construction at Kyoto Racecourse.