# Kikuka-shō

The Kikuka-shō (菊花賞, pronounced Kikka-shō) is a Japanese Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan for three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies run over a distance of 3,000 metres (approximately 1 7/8 miles) at the Kyoto Racecourse, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture in October.
It was first run in 1938 and is the Japanese equivalent of the English St. Leger Stakes.

## Trial races

Trial races provide automatic berths to the winning horses or placed horses as specified.
| Race | Grade | Racecourse | Distance | Condition |
| St Lite Kinen | II | Nakayama | 2,200 meters | Top 3 horses |
| Kobe Shimbun Hai | II | Hanshin | 2,400 meters | Top 3 horses |

## Winners since 1990

| Year | Winner | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Time |
| 1990 | Mejiro McQueen | Koichi Uchida | Yasuo Ikee | Mejiro Farm | 3:06.2 |
| 1991 | Leo Durban | Yukio Okabe | Shinji Okuhira | Ryu Tanaka | 3:09.5 |
| 1992 | Rice Shower | Hitoshi Matoba | Yoshiji Iizuka | Hideo Kuribayashi | 3:05.0 |
| 1993 | Biwa Hayahide | Yukio Okabe | Mitsumasa Hamada | Biwa Co Ltd | 3:04.7 |
| 1994 | Narita Brian | Katsumi Minai | Masaaki Okubo | Hidenori Yamaji | 3:04.6 |
| 1995 | Mayano Top Gun | Seiki Tabara | Masahiro Sakaguchi | Yu Tadokoro | 3:04.4 |
| 1996 | Dance in the Dark | Yutaka Take | Kojiro Hashiguchi | Shadai Race Horse | 3:05.1 |
| 1997 | Matikanefukukitaru | Katsumi Minai | Hisao Nibun | Masuo Hosokawa | 3:07.7 |
| 1998 | Seiun Sky | Norihiro Yokoyama | Kazutaka Yasuda | Masayuki Nishiyama | 3:03.2 |
| 1999 | Narita Top Road | Kunihiko Watanabe | Yoshio Oki | Hidenori Yamaji | 3:07.6 |
| 2000 | Air Shakur | Yutaka Take | Hideyuki Mori | Lucky Field Co Ltd | 3:04.7 |
| 2001 | Manhattan Cafe | Masayoshi Ebina | Futoshi Kojima | Kiyoshi Nishikawa | 3:07.2 |
| 2002 | Hishi Miracle | Koichi Tsunoda | Masaru Sayama | Masaichiro Abe | 3:05.9 |
| 2003 | That's the Plenty | Katsumi Ando | Kojiro Hashiguchi | Shadai Racehorse Co. | 3:04.8 |
| 2004 | Delta Blues | Yasunari Iwata | Katsuhiko Sumii | Sunday Racing Co. Ltd. | 3:04.8 |
| 2005 | Deep Impact | Yutaka Take | Yasuo Ikee | Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co. | 3:04.6 |
| 2006 | Song of Wind | Koshiro Take | Hidekazu Asami | Shadai Racehorse Co. | 3:02.7 |
| 2007 | Asakusa Kings | Hirofumi Shii | Ryuji Okubo | Keiko Tahara | 3:05.1 |
| 2008 | Oken Bruce Lee | Hiroyuki Uchida | Hidetaka Otonashi | Akira Fukui | 3:05.7 |
| 2009 | Three Rolls | Suguru Hamanaka | Kohei Take | Nagai Shoji Co. | 3:03.5 |
| 2010 | Big Week | Yuga Kawada | Hiroyuki Nagahama | Yuzo Tanimizu | 3:06.1 |
| 2011 | Orfevre | Kenichi Ikezoe | Yasutoshi Ikee | Sunday Racing Co., Ltd. | 3:02.8 |
| 2012 | Gold Ship | Hiroyuki Uchida | Naosuke Sugai | Eiichi Kobayshi | 3:02.9 |
| 2013 | Epiphaneia | Yuichi Fukunaga | Katsuhiko Sumii | U Carrot Farm | 3:05.2 |
| 2014 | Toho Jackal | Manabu Sakai | Kiyoshi Tani | Toho Bussan Co Ltd | 3:01.0 |
| 2015 | Kitasan Black | Hiroshi Kitamura | Hisashi Shimizu | Ono Shoji | 3:03.9 |
| 2016 | Satono Diamond | Christophe Lemaire | Yasutoshi Ikee | Hajime Satomi | 3:03.3 |
| 2017 | Kiseki | Mirco Demuro | Katsuhiko Sumii | Tatsue Ishikawa | 3:18.9 |
| 2018 | Fierement | Christophe Lemaire | Takahisa Tezuka | Sunday Racing | 3:06.1 |
| 2019 | World Premiere | Yutaka Take | Yasuo Tomomichi | Ryoichi Otsuka | 3:06.0 |
| 2020 | Contrail | Yuichi Fukunaga | Yoshito Yahagi | Shinji Maeda | 3:05.5 |
| 2021 | Titleholder | Takeshi Yokoyama | Toru Kurita | Hiroshi Yamada | 3:04.6 |
| 2022 | Ask Victor More | Hironobu Tanabe | Yasuhito Tamura | Hirosaki Toshihiro HD Co. Ltd. | 3:02.4 |
| 2023 | Durezza | Christophe Lemaire | Tomohito Ozeki | U Carrot Farm | 3:03.1 |
| 2024 | Urban Chic | Christophe Lemaire | Ryo Takei | Silk Racing Co. Ltd. | 3:04.1 |
$^a$ The 2021 and 2022 editions were contested at Hanshin Racecourse, due to renovations held at the Kyoto Racecourse.

## Earlier winners

* 1938 - Tetsumon
* 1939 - Marutake
* 1940 - Tetsuzakura
* 1941 - St Lite
* 1942 - Hayatake
* 1943 - Kurifuji
* 1944 - no race
* 1945 - no race
* 1946 - Azumarai
* 1947 - Browny
* 1948 - Newford
* 1949 - Tosa Midori
* 1950 - High Record
* 1951 - Track O
* 1952 - Saint O
* 1953 - Hakuryo
* 1954 - Dainana Hoshu
* 1955 - Meiji Hikari
* 1956 - Kitano O
* 1957 - Rhapsody
* 1958 - Koma Hikari
* 1959 - Hakukurama
* 1960 - Kitano Oza
* 1961 - Azuma Tenran
* 1962 - Hirokimi
* 1963 - Great Yoruka
* 1964 - Shinzan
* 1965 - Dai Koter
* 1966 - Nasuno Kotobuki
* 1967 - Knit Eight
* 1968 - Asaka O
* 1969 - Akane Tenryu
* 1970 - Date Tenryu
* 1971 - Nihon Pollow Moutiers
* 1972 - Ishino Hikaru
* 1973 - Take Hope
* 1974 - Kitano Kachidoki
* 1975 - Kokusai Prince
* 1976 - Green Grass
* 1977 - Press Toko
* 1978 - Inter Gushiken
* 1979 - Hashi Hermit
* 1980 - North Gust
* 1981 - Minagawa Manna
* 1982 - Horisky
* 1983 - Mr. C.B.
* 1984 - Symboli Rudolf
* 1985 - Miho Shinzan
* 1986 - Mejiro Durren
* 1987 - Sakura Star O
* 1988 - Super Creek
* 1989 - Bamboo Begin