# Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Japan)

The Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup until 2012) is an International Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan for three-year-old and above thoroughbred fillies and mares run over a distance of 2,200 metres (approximately 1 mile 3 furlongs) on the turf at Kyoto Racecourse in November.
Originally called the Victoria Cup, it was renamed the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in 1975 to commemorate the visit of Elizabeth II to Japan.

## History

The race was first run in 1976 over a distance of 2,400 metres (1 mile 4 furlongs). It was originally for three-year-old fillies only and was the third leg of the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown. In 1996, it was opened to older female horses and was reduced to its present distance. In the same year the Shuka Sho was established and became the third leg of the Fillies' Triple Crown.
Since 1999 it turned into International Grade 1 race, with Snow Fairy from England, in 2010, being the first winner from outside Japan. The following year she made Japanese flat racing history of being the first ever non-Japanese trained horse to win the same Grade 1 flat race back-to-back (second ever including Steeplechase, with Karasi winning Nakayama Grand Jump between 2005 and 2007).
It is the only Grade 1 race that is restricted to fillies and mares aged three or above. The other Grade 1 races for older female horses in Japan, the Victoria Mile, excludes three-year-olds.

## Records

Most successful horse (2 wins):
* Mejiro Dober – 1998, 1999
* Admire Groove – 2003, 2004
* Snow Fairy – 2010, 2011
* Lucky Lilac – 2019, 2020

## Winners

| Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Time |
| 1976 | Diamante | 3 | Yukiharu Matsuda | Yukio Inaba | Hiroyoshi Sato | 2:28.5 |
| 1977 | Inter Gloria | 3 | Yoichi Fukunaga | Tsugio Yanagida | Masao Matsuoka | 2:28.7 |
| 1978 | Lead Swallow | 3 | Kunihiko Take | Masatoshi Hattori | Yoshio Kumamoto | 2:29.1 |
| 1979 | Miss Kaburaya | 3 | Yukio Okabe | Tokachi Nishizuka | Kaburaya | 2:32.6 |
| 1980 | Hagino Top Lady | 3 | Kiyoaki Ito | Shuji Ito | Kokichi Hinokuma | 2:27.9 |
| 1981 | Agnes Tesco | 3 | Katsuichi Nishiura | Michio Kubo | Takao Watanabe | 2:28.1 |
| 1982 | Victoria Crown | 3 | Isao Shimada | Yukio Inaba | Masahi Iida | 2:29.2 |
| 1983 | Long Grace | 3 | Hiroshi Kawachi | Minoru Kobayashi | Choichi Nakai | 2:30.1 |
| 1984 | Kyowa Thunder | 3 | Hiroshi Higuchi | Hachiro Yoshioka | Yoshio Asakawa | 2:28.4 |
| 1985 | Reward Wing | 3 | Kunio Uchida | Akio Tsurudome | Tadahiko Miyazaki | 2:26.8 |
| 1986 | Mejiro Ramonu | 3 | Hiroshi Kawachi | Shinji Okuhira | Mejiro Bokujo | 2:29.1 |
| 1987 | Talented Girl | 3 | Seiji Ebisawa | Hironori Kurita | Masako Iida | 2:29.3 |
| 1988 | Miyama Poppy | 3 | Yukiharu Matsuda | Yoshitaro Matsuda | Ryogo Omiya | 2:27.2 |
| 1989 | Sand Peeress | 3 | Shigehiko Kishi | Shinobu Yoshioka | Hidaka Breeders Union | 2:28.8 |
| 1990 | Kyoei Tap | 3 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Kenji Hieda | Masao Matsuoka | 2:25.5 |
| 1991 | Rinden Lilly | 3 | Junichiro Oka | Akira Nomoto | Akitoshi Hayashida | 2:29.6 |
| 1992 | Takeno Velvet | 3 | Shinji Fujita | Minoru Kobayashi | Daikichi Takeoka | 2:27.1 |
| 1993 | Hokuto Vega | 3 | Kazuhiro Kato | Takao Nakano | Kanamorimori Shoji | 2:24.9 |
| 1994 | Hishi Amazon | 3 | Eiji Nakadate | Takao Nakano | Masaichiro Abe | 2:24.3 |
| 1995 | Sakura Candle | 3 | Futoshi Kojima | Kazunori Sakai | Sakura Commerce | 2:27.3 |
| 1996 | Dance Partner | 4 | Hirofumi Shii | Toshiaki Shirai | Katsumi Yoshida | 2:14.3 |
| 1997 | Erimo Chic | 4 | Hitoshi Matoba | Yoshio Oki | Shinichi Yamamoto | 2:12.5 |
| 1998 | Mejiro Dober | 4 | Yutaka Yoshida | Yokichi Okubo | Mejiro Shoji | 2:12.8 |
| 1999 | Mejiro Dober | 5 | Yutaka Yoshida | Yokichi Okubo | Mejiro Shoji | 2:13.5 |
| 2000 | Phalaenopsis | 5 | Mikio Matsunaga | Mitsumasa Hamada | North Hills Management Co Ltd | 2:12.8 |
| 2001 | To the Victory | 5 | Yutaka Take | Yasuo Ikee | Makoto Kaneko | 2:11.2 |
| 2002 | Fine Motion | 3 | Yutaka Take | Yuji Ito | Tatsuo Fushikida | 2:13.2 |
| 2003 | Admire Groove | 3 | Yutaka Take | Mitsuru Hashida | Riichi Kondo | 2:11.8 |
| 2004 | Admire Groove | 4 | Yutaka Take | Mitsuru Hashida | Riichi Kondo | 2:13.6 |
| 2005 | Sweep Tosho | 4 | Kenichi Ikezoe | Akio Tsurudome | Tosho Sangyo | 2:12.5 |
| 2006 | Fusaichi Pandora | 3 | Yuichi Fukunaga | Toshiaki Shirai | Fusao Sekiguchi | 2:11.6 |
| 2007 | Daiwa Scarlet | 3 | Katsumi Ando | Kunihide Matsuda | Keizo Oshiro | 2:11.9 |
| 2008 | Little Amapola | 3 | Christophe Lemaire | Hiroyuki Nagahama | Shadai Racehorse Co | 2:12.1 |
| 2009 | Queen Spumante | 5 | Hiroyasu Tanaka | Shigeyuki Kojima | Green Farm | 2:13.6 |
| 2010 | Snow Fairy | 3 | Ryan Moore | Ed Dunlop | Anamoine Ltd | 2:12.5 |
| 2011 | Snow Fairy | 4 | Ryan Moore | Ed Dunlop | Anamoine Ltd | 2:11.6 |
| 2012 | Rainbow Dahlia | 5 | Yoshitomi Shibata | Yoshitaka Ninomiya | Yoshiko Tanaka | 2:16.3 |
| 2013 | Meisho Mambo | 3 | Koshiro Take | Akihiro Iida | Yoshio Matsumoto | 2:16.6 |
| 2014 | Lachesis | 4 | Yuga Kawada | Katsuhiko Sumii | Masaya Oshima | 2:12.3 |
| 2015 | Marialite | 4 | Masayoshi Ebina | Takashi Kubota | U Carrot Farm | 2:14.9 |
| 2016 | Queens Ring | 4 | Mirco Demuro | Keiji Yoshimura | Chizu Yoshida | 2:12.9 |
| 2017 | Mozu Katchan | 3 | Mirco Demuro | Ippo Sameshima | Capital System Co. Ltd | 2:14.3 |
| 2018 | Lys Gracieux | 4 | João Moreira | Yoshito Yahagi | U Carrot Farm | 2:13.1 |
| 2019 | Lucky Lilac | 4 | Christophe Soumillon | Mikio Matsunaga | Sunday Racing | 2:14.1 |
| 2020 | Lucky Lilac | 5 | Christophe Lemaire | Mikio Matsunaga | Sunday Racing | 2:10.3 |
| 2021 | Akai Ito | 4 | Hideaki Miyuki | Kazuya Nakatake | Koji Oka | 2:12.1 |
| 2022 | Geraldina | 4 | Cristian Demuro | Takashi Saito | Sunday Racing | 2:13.0 |
| 2023 | Brede Weg | 3 | Christophe Lemaire | Keisuke Miyata | Sunday Racing | 2:12.6 |
| 2024 | Stunning Rose | 5 | Cristian Demuro | Tomokazu Takano | Sunday Racing | 2:11.1 |
$^a$ Kawakami Princess finished first in 2006 but was demoted to 12th place following a Stewards' Inquiry.
$^b$ The 2020, 2021 and 2022 races took place at Hanshin Racecourse over a distance of 2200 metres.