# Tenno Sho

The Tennō Shō (天皇賞, "Emperor's Prize") is a horse race held twice a year in Japan, once in the spring and once in the autumn. "Tenno" means "Emperor of Japan". The races are both International Grade 1 races. Prior to the 2007 races, both Tenno Sho races were Japanese domestic Grade 1 races.

## Spring

The Spring Tenno Sho is held at Kyoto Racecourse, in late April or early May. It is run over a distance of 3,200 metres (10,500 ft), making it 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 1990-2018 of the Tenno Sho is 3:16.7, while the same for the Melbourne Cup is 3:21.1, a difference of 4.4 seconds.

### Winners since 1990

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

### Earlier winners

* 1938 - Hase Park
* 1939 - Sugenuma
* 1940 - Toki no Chikara
* 1941 - Marutake
* 1942 - Minami Mor
* 1943 - Grand Lite
* 1944 - Hiro Sakura
* 1945 - No race
* 1946 - No race
* 1947 - Olite
* 1948 - Cyma
* 1949 - Miharu O
* 1950 - Owens
* 1951 - Takakura Yama
* 1952 - Mitsuhata
* 1953 - Leda
* 1954 - Hakuryou
* 1955 - Taka O
* 1956 - Meiji Hikari
* 1957 - Kitano O
* 1958 - Onward There
* 1959 - Tosa O
* 1960 - Kuripero
* 1961 - Yamanin More
* 1962 - Onslaught
* 1963 - Korehisa
* 1964 - Hikaru Pola
* 1965 - Asahoko
* 1966 - Hakuzuikou
* 1967 - Speed Symboli
* 1968 - Hikarutakai
* 1969 - Takeshiba O
* 1970 - Riki Eikan
* 1971 - Mejiro Musashi
* 1972 - Bell Wide
* 1973 - Tai Tehm
* 1974 - Take Hope
* 1975 - Ichifuji Isami
* 1976 - Erimo George
* 1977 - Ten Point
* 1978 - Green Grass
* 1979 - Kashuu Chikara
* 1980 - Nichidou Taro
* 1981 - Katsura no Haiseiko
* 1982 - Monte Prince
* 1983 – Amber Shadai
* 1984 – Monte Fast
* 1985 - Symboli Rudolf
* 1986 - Kushiro King
* 1987 - Miho Shinzan
* 1988 - Tamamo Cross
* 1989 - Inari One

## Autumn

The Autumn Tenno Sho is held at Tokyo Racecourse, in late October. It is run over a distance of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). It is considered the first leg of the Japanese Autumn Triple Crown (the other two are the Japan Cup and the Arima Kinen).
Originally, the Autumn Tenno Sho was run over a distance of 3,200 metres (10,500 ft), but was shortened to its current distance to promote middle-distance horses and to promote 3-year-old horses as a shorter-distance alternative to the Kikuka Sho, the Japanese St. Leger, which is 3,000 metres (9,800 ft).

### Winners since 1990

| Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Time |
| 1990 | Yaeno Muteki | 5 | Yukio Okabe | Mitsuo Ogino | Fuji Co | 1:58.2 |
| 1991 | Prekrasnie* | 4 | Teruo Eda | Terumaso Yano | Eijiro Tajima | 2:03.9 |
| 1992 | Let's Go Tarquin | 5 | Akikasu Osaki | Kojiro Hashiguchi | Diners Club Japan | 1:58.6 |
| 1993 | Yamanin Zephyr | 4 | Masao Shibata | Hiromu Kurita | Tadashi Doi | 1:58.9 |
| 1994 | Nehai Caesar | 4 | Katsumi Shiomura | Akira Huse | Daimaru Enterprise | 1:58.6 |
| 1995 | Sakure Chitose O | 5 | Futoshi Kojima | Katsutarao Sakai | Sakura Commerce | 1:58.8 |
| 1996 | Bubble Gum Fellow | 3 | Masayoshi Ebina | Kazuo Fujisawa | Shadai Racehorse | 1:58.7 |
| 1997 | Air Groove | 4 | Yutaka Take | Yasunori Ito | Lucky Field Co Ltd | 1:59.0 |
| 1998 | Offside Trap | 7 | Yoshitomi Shibata | Shuho Kato | Takashi Watanabe | 1:59.3 |
| 1999 | Special Week | 4 | Yutaka Take | Toshiaki Shirai | Hiroyoshi Usuda | 1:58.0 |
| 2000 | T M Opera O | 4 | Ryuji Wada | Ichizo Iwamoto | Masatsugu Takezono | 1:59.9 |
| 2001 | Agnes Digital | 4 | Hirofumi Shii | Toshiaki Shirai | Takao Watanabe | 2:02.0 |
| 2002 | Symboli Kris S | 3 | Yukio Okabe | Kazuo Fujisawa | Symboli Stud | 1:58.5 |
| 2003 | Symboli Kris S | 4 | Olivier Peslier | Kazuo Fujisawa | Symboli Stud | 1:58.0 |
| 2004 | Zenno Rob Roy | 4 | Olivier Peslier | Kazuo Fujisawa | Shinobu Osako | 1:58.9 |
| 2005 | Heavenly Romance | 5 | Mikio Matsunaga | Masashi Yamamoto | Nosohiruzu Management | 2:00.1 |
| 2006 | Daiwa Major | 5 | Katsumi Ando | Hiroyuki Uehara | Keizou Ooshiro | 1:58.8 |
| 2007 | Meisho Samson | 4 | Yutaka Take | Shigetada Takahashi | Yoshio Matsumoto | 1:58.4 |
| 2008 | Vodka | 4 | Yutaka Take | Katsuhiko Sumii | Yuzo Tanimizu | 1:57.2 |
| 2009 | Company# | 8 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Hidetaka Otonashi | Eiko Kondou | 1:57.2 |
| 2010 | Buena Vista | 4 | Christophe Soumillon | Hiroyoshi Matsuda | Sunday Racing Co Ltd | 1:58.2 |
| 2011 | Tosen Jordan | 5 | Nicola Pinna | Yasutoshi Ikee | Takaya Shimakawa | 1:56.1 |
| 2012 | Eishin Flash | 5 | Mirco Demuro | Hideaki Fujiwara | Toyomitsu Hirai | 1:57.3 |
| 2013 | Just A Way | 4 | Yuichi Fukunaga | Naosuke Sugai | Akatsuki Yamatoya | 1:57.5 |
| 2014 | Spielberg | 5 | Hiroshi Kitamura | Kazuo Fujisawa | Hidetoshi Yamamoto | 1:59.7 |
| 2015 | Lovely Day | 5 | Suguru Hamanaka | Yasutoshi Ikee | Kaneko Makoto Holdings | 1:58.4 |
| 2016 | Maurice | 5 | Ryan Moore | Noriyuki Hori | Kazumi Yoshida | 1:59.3 |
| 2017 | Kitasan Black | 5 | Yutaka Take | Hisashi Shimizu | Ono Shoji | 2:08.3 |
| 2018 | Rey de Oro | 4 | Christophe Lemaire | Kazuo Fujisawa | U Carrot Farm | 1:56.8 |
| 2019 | Almond Eye | 4 | Christophe Lemaire | Sakae Kunieda | Silk Racing | 1:56.2 |
| 2020 | Almond Eye | 5 | Christophe Lemaire | Sakae Kunieda | Silk Racing | 1:57.8 |
| 2021 | Efforia | 3 | Takeshi Yokoyama | Yuichi Shikato | Carrot Farm | 1:57.9 |
| 2022 | Equinox | 3 | Christophe Lemaire | Tetsuya Kimura | Silk Racing | 1:57.5 |
| 2023 | Equinox | 4 | Christophe Lemaire | Tetsuya Kimura | Silk Racing | 1:55.2 |
| 2024 | Do Deuce | 5 | Yutaka Take | Yasuo Tomomichi | Kieffers Co. Ltd. | 1:57.3 |

### Earlier winners

* 1937 – Happy Might
* 1938 - Hisatomo
* 1939 - Tetsumon
* 1940 – Rocky Mor
* 1941 - Estates
* 1942 - Ni Patois
* 1943 - Kuri Hikari
* 1944 - No race
* 1945 - No race
* 1946 - No race
* 1947 - Toyo Ume
* 1948 - Katsu Fuji
* 1949 - Newford
* 1950 - Yashima Daughter
* 1951 - Hatakaze
* 1952 - Track O
* 1953 - Queen Narubi
* 1954 - Opal Orchid
* 1955 - Dainana Hoshu
* 1956 - Midfarm
* 1957 - Hakuchikara
* 1958 - Cellulose
* 1959 - Garnet
* 1960 - Ote Mon
* 1961 - Takamagahara
* 1962 - Kurihide
* 1963 - Ryu Forel
* 1964 - Yamato Kyodai
* 1965 - Shinzan
* 1966 - Korehide
* 1967 - Kabuto Ciro
* 1968 - Knit Eight
* 1969 - Mejiro Taiyo
* 1970 - Mejiro Asama
* 1971 - Tomei
* 1972 - Yamanin Wave
* 1973 - Tani no Chikara
* 1974 - Kami no Tesio
* 1975 - Fujino Parthia
* 1976 - Eyeful
* 1977 - Hokuto Boy
* 1978 - Tenmei
* 1979 - Three Giants
* 1980 - Pretty Cast
* 1981 - Hoyo Boy
* 1982 - Mejiro Titan
* 1983 - Kyoei Promise
* 1984 - Mr. C.B.
* 1985 - Gallop Dyna
* 1986 - Sakura Yutaka O
* 1987 - Nippo Teio
* 1988 - Tamamo Cross
* 1989 - Super Creek

## Multiple winners

Prior to 1980, a horse winning a Tennō Shō races was not allowed to participate in future editions of the race but this ban was lifted in 1981. Only two horses won the prize three times:
* Kitasan Black (2016 Spring, 2017 Spring and Autumn)
* T M Opera O (2000 Spring and Autumn, 2001 Spring)
Apart from Kitasan Black and T M Opera O, four horses to date have won consecutive runnings, either by winning both the Spring and Autumn races in the same year or by winning the Autumn race, and following year's Spring race.
* Tamamo Cross (1988 Spring, Autumn)
* Super Creek (1989 Autumn, 1990 Spring)
* Special Week (1999 Spring, Autumn)
* Meisho Samson (2007 Spring and Autumn)
Five horses have won two non-consecutive runnings.
* Mejiro McQueen (1991, 1992 Spring, finished 1st in 1991 Autumn but demoted to last)
* Rice Shower (1993, 1995 Spring)
* Symboli Kris S (2002, 2003 Autumn)
* Fenomeno (2013, 2014 Spring)
* Fierement (2019, 2020 Spring)
* Almond Eye (2019, 2020 Autumn)
* Equinox (2022, 2023 Autumn)