The Yasuda Kinen (English: Yasuda Memorial, Japanese and Chinese language: 安田記念) is a Japanese International Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at the Tokyo Racecourse in Tokyo. Raced annually each June, the Yasuda Kinen is run at a distance of eight furlongs (one mile) on turf 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. Following the death of Mr. Yasuda, in 1958 the race name was changed to the Yasuda Kinen.

Yasuda Kinen
Yasuda Memorial
安田記念
Grade 1 race
Songline winning the 72nd Yasuda Kinen (2022)
LocationTokyo Racecourse, Fuchu, Tokyo
Inaugurated1951
Race typeThoroughbred
Websitejapanracing.jp - Yasuda Kinen
Race information
Distance1600 meters
(About 8 furlongs / 1 mile)
SurfaceTurf
TrackLeft-handed
Qualification3-y-o & Up, Thoroughbreds
Weight3-y-o 54 kg, 4-y-o & up 58 kg
Allowance: Fillies 2 kg[1]
Purse¥ 388,800,000 (as of 2024)
1st: ¥ 180,000,000
2nd: ¥ 72,000,000
3rd: ¥ 45,000,000
Bonuses$1,000,000 (¥115,000,000) bonus is given to any horse who wins two legs of the four-race Asian Mile Challenge, including 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. 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 and Taiki Shuttle, both 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-trained horse to ever win a Grade I race outside of Hong Kong. In 2006 another Hong Kong-owned champion, Bullish Luck, won the race and earned the Asian Mile Challenge bonus money for winning both the Yasuda Kinen and the Champions Mile in Hong Kong.

Winners since 1984

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Year
Winner
Age
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
Time
1984 Happy Progress 6 Seiki Tabara Shoji Yamamoto S. Fujita 1:37.8
1985 Nihon Pillow Winner 5 Hiroshi Kawachi Masatoshi Hattori Hyakutaro Kobayashi 1:35.1
1986 Gallop Dyna 6 Isamu Shibasaki Susumu Yano Shadai Race Horse 1:35.5
1987 Fresh Voice 4 Masato Shibata Naoyuki Sakai Kazuo Enjo 1:35.7
1988 Nippo Teio 5 Hiroyuki Gohara Fusamatsu Okubo Yuichi Yamaishi 1:34.2
1989 Bamboo Memory 4 Yukio Okabe Kunihiko Take Tatsuichi Takeda 1:34.3
1990 Oguri Cap 5 Yutaka Take Tsutomu Setoguchi Shunsuke Kondo 1:32.4
1991 Daiichi Ruby 4 Hiroshi Kawachi Yuji Ito Haruo Tsujimoto 1:33.8
1992 Yamanin Zephyr 4 Katsuharu Tanaka Hironori Kurita Hajime Doi 1:33.8
1993 Yamanin Zephyr 5 Yoshitomi Shibata Hironori Kurita Hajime Doi 1:33.5
1994 North Flight 4 Koichi Tsunoda Keiji Kato Taihoku Bokujo 1:33.2
1995 Heart Lake 4 Yutaka Take Saeed bin Suroor (UAE) 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 Taiki Farm Co. 1:33.8
1998 Taiki Shuttle 4 Yukio Okabe Kazuo Fujisawa Taiki Farm Co. 1:37.5
1999 Air Jihad 4 Masayoshi Ebina Masanori Ito Lucky Field Co. 1:33.3
2000 Fairy King Prawn 5 Robbie Fradd Ivan W. Allan (Hong Kong) Philip Lau Sak Hong 1:33.9
2001 Black Hawk 7 Norihiro Yokoyama Sakae Kunieda Makoto Kaneko 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 7 Brett Prebble Tony Cruz (Hong Kong) Wong Wing Keung 1:32.6
2007 Daiwa Major 6 Katsumi Ando Hiroyuki Uehara Keizo Oshiro 1:32.3
2008 Vodka 4 Yasunari Iwata Katsuhiko Sumii Yuzo Tanimizu 1:32.7
2009 Vodka 5 Yutaka Take Katsuhiko Sumii 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 1:32.0
2012 Strong Return 6 Yuichi Fukunaga Noriyuki Hori Teruya Yoshida 1:31.3
2013 Lord Kanaloa 5 Yasunari Iwata Takayuki Yasuda Lord Horse Club 1:31.5
2014 Just A Way 5 Yoshitomi Shibata Naosuke Sugai Akatsuki Yamatoya 1:36.8
2015 Maurice 4 Yuga Kawada Noriyuki Hori Kazumi Yoshida 1:32.0
2016 Logotype 6 Hironobu Tanabe Tsuyoshi Tanaka Teruya Yoshida 1:33.0
2017 Satono Aladdin 6 Yuga Kawada Yasutoshi Ikee Hajime Satomi 1:31.5
2018 Mozu Ascot 4 Christophe Lemaire Yoshito Yahagi Capital System 1:31.3
2019 Indy Champ 4 Yuichi Fukunaga Hidetaka Otonashi Silk Racing 1:30.9
2020 Gran Alegria 4 Kenichi Ikezoe Kazuo Fujisawa Sunday Racing 1:31.6
2021 Danon Kingly 5 Yuga Kawada Kiyoshi Hagiwara Danox Co Ltd 1:31.7
2022 Songline 4 Kenichi Ikezoe Toru Hayashi Sunday Racing 1:32.3
2023 Songline 5 Keita Tosaki Toru Hayashi Sunday Racing 1:31.4
2024 Romantic Warrior 6 James McDonald Danny Shum Chap-shing (Hong Kong) Peter Lau Pak Fai 1:32.3

Earlier winners

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  • 1951 - Issei
  • 1952 - Swee Sue
  • 1953 - Swee Sue
  • 1954 - Fuso
  • 1955 - Kuri Chikara
  • 1956 - Yoshifusa
  • 1957 - Hekiraku
  • 1958 - Rhapsody
  • 1959 - Hishi Masaru
  • 1960 - Onward Bell
  • 1961 - Homareboshi
  • 1962 - Tokon
  • 1963 - Yamano O
  • 1964 - Shimofusa Homare
  • 1965 - Panasonic
  • 1966 - Hishi Masahide
  • 1967 - Buchan
  • 1968 - Shesquay
  • 1969 - Hard Way
  • 1970 - Mejiro Asama
  • 1971 - Harbor Game
  • 1972 - Rafale
  • 1973 - Haku Hosho
  • 1974 - Kyoei Green
  • 1975 - Sakura Iwai
  • 1976 - Nishiki Ace
  • 1977 - Squash Tholon
  • 1978 - Nippo King
  • 1979 - Royal Shinzan
  • 1980 - Blue Hallez
  • 1981 - Takeden
  • 1982 - Sweet Native
  • 1983 - Kiyo Hidaka

See also

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References

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  1. ^ JRA International Races 2007
  2. ^ "安田記念". Netkeiba.
  3. ^ "Yasuda Kinen". Netkeiba.
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