# Nakayama Grand Jump

The Nakayama Grand Jump (中山グランドジャンプ) is a Japanese horse racing steeplechase, held at Nakayama Racecourse every year in mid-April. It is for thoroughbreds, four years old and older, run at a distance of 4250m (2 5/8 miles + 84 feet).
With a purse of over 142,660,000 yen, (about US$1.3 million), the Nakayama Grand Jump is one of the richest steeplechase races in the world. Held as "Nakayama Daishogai spring" until 1998, it was first run in 1999 as a 4100m race. It is one of two Grade I steeplechase races on Japanese turf, beside the Nakayama Daishogai, which slightly reconfigures the same racecourse.
The race is run on Nakayama's steeplechase course, which follows a twisted path on the racecourse interior over a series of jumps, inclines and declines. The dirt course is also crossed several times. On the final lap, with about 1200 m (3/4 mile) remaining, horses enter the outer turf course along the backstretch for the race's final three jumps. Since the inauguration of the race in 1999, it has been won by five foreign runners: St Steven (New Zealand 2002), Karasi (Australia 2005, 2006, 2007) and Blackstairmountain (Ireland 2013).

## Winners

| Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Time |
| 1999(*1) | Mejiro Pharaoh | 6 | Takashi Oehara | Yokichi Okubo | Mejiro Shoji co. | 4:56.2 |
| 2000 | Gokai | 7 | Yoshiyuki Yokoyama | Hiroyuki Gohara | Kei Yoshihashi | 4:43.1 |
| 2001 | Gokai | 8 | Yoshiyuki Yokoyama | Hiroyuki Gohara | Kei Yoshihashi | 4:52.3 |
| 2002 | St Steven | 8 | Craig Thornton | John Wheeler | John Wheeler | 4:50.9 |
| 2003 | Big Taste | 5 | Katsuyoshi Tsuneishi | Tadashi Nakao | Big co. | 4:48.9 |
| 2004 | Blandices | 7 | Takashi Oehara | Tatsuo Fujiwara | Sunday Racing Co. Ltd. | 4:47.0 |
| 2005 | Karasi | 10 | Brett Scott | Eric Musgrove | Pearse Morgan | 4:50.4 |
| 2006 | Karasi | 11 | Brett Scott | Eric Musgrove | Pearse Morgan | 4:50.8 |
| 2007 | Karasi | 12 | Brett Scott | Eric Musgrove | Pearse Morgan | 4:50.4 |
| 2008 | Maruka Rascal | 6 | Makoto Nishitani | Yutaka Masumoto | Kawacho Sangyo | 4:57.7 |
| 2009 | Spring Ghent | 9 | Yuzo Shirahama | Akihiko Nomura | Haruo Kato | 4:49.1 |
| 2010 | Merci Mont Saint | 5 | Yosuke Kono | Kohei Take | Mitsuishi Farm | 5:03.5 |
| 2011(*2) | Meiner Neos | 8 | Daichi Shibata | Ryuichi Inaba | K Thoroughbred Club Ruffian | 4:51.6 |
| 2012 | Majesty Bio | 5 | Daichi Shibata | Tsuyoshi Tanaka | Bio Co. Ltd. | 5:02.9 |
| 2013 | Blackstairmountain | 8 | Ruby Walsh | Willie Mullins | Susannah Ricci | 4:50.5 |
| 2014 | Apollo Maverick | 5 | Yusuke Igarashi | Masahiro Horii | Apollo Thoroughbred Club | 4:50.7 |
| 2015 | Up To Date | 5 | Mitsuaki Hayashi | Shozo Sasaki | Kazuo Imanishi | 4:46.6 |
| 2016 | Oju Chosan | 5 | Shinichi Ishigami | Shoichiro Wada | Chosan Co Ltd | 4:49.64 |
| 2017 | Oju Chosan | 6 | Shinichi Ishigami | Shoichiro Wada | Chosan Co Ltd | 4:50.8 |
| 2018 | Oju Chosan | 7 | Shinichi Ishigami | Shoichiro Wada | Chosan Co Ltd | 4:43.0 |
| 2019 | Oju Chosan | 8 | Shinichi Ishigami | Shoichiro Wada | Chosan Co Ltd | 4:47.6 |
| 2020 | Oju Chosan | 9 | Shinichi Ishigami | Shoichiro Wada | Chosan Co Ltd | 5:02.9 |
| 2021 | Meisho Dassai | 8 | Kazuma Mori | Yuji Iida | Yoshio Matsumoto | 4:50.1 |
| 2022 | Oju Chosan | 11 | Shinichi Ishigami | Shoichiro Wada | Chosan Co Ltd | 4:52.3 |
| 2023 | Irogotoshi | 6 | Yu Kuroiwa | Kazuya Makita | Gensho Uchida | 4:54.1 |
| 2024 | Irogotoshi | 7 | Yu Kuroiwa | Kazuya Makita | Gensho Uchida | 4:47.2 |
* (*1):The 1999 race was open to Japanese trained horses only.
* (*2):As a result of 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the 2011 race was postponed to July 2, and run over a distance of 4260m. For this year only, three-year-olds were allowed to enter the race. The weight conditions were changed to 61.5 kg for three-year-olds and 63.5 for four-year-olds or above.