# Yushun Himba

The Yushun Himba (優駿牝馬), also known as the Japanese Oaks (オークス) is a Japanese Grade 1 flat horse race for three-year-old thoroughbred fillies run over a distance of 2,400 metres (approximately 1 mile 4 furlongs) at the Tokyo Racecourse, Fuchū, Tokyo in May.

## History

It was first run in 1938 and is the Japanese equivalent of the English Epsom Oaks.
On May 23, 2010, in the 71st running of the Yushun Himba, Apapane and Saint Emilion hit the finish at the same time in the race, making the first time that a Grade 1 race in Japan has resulted in a dead heat for the win.
On May 20, 2018, Almond Eye won the 2,400-meter Yushun Himba over Lily Noble by two lengths.

## Trial races

Trial races provide automatic berths to the winning horses or placed horses as specified.
| Race | Grade | Racecourse | Distance | Condition |
| Oka Sho | I | Hanshin | 1,600 meters | Top 5 horses |
| Flora Stakes | II | Tokyo | 2,000 meters | Top 2 horses |
| Sweetpea Stakes | Listed | Tokyo | 1,800 meters | Winner |

## Winners since 1990

| Year | Winner | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Time |
| 1990 | Eishin Sunny | Shigehiko Kishi | Masanori Sakaguchi | Toyomitsu Hirai | 2:26.1 |
| 1991 | Isono Roubles | Mikio Matsunaga | Hisao Shimizu | Toshio Isono | 2:27.8 |
| 1992 | Adorable | Yoshiyuki Muramoto | Minoru Kobayashi | Haruo Negishi | 2:28.9 |
| 1993 | Vega | Yutaka Take | Hiroyoshi Matsuda | Kazuko Yoshida | 2:27.3 |
| 1994 | Chokai Carol | Sadahiro Kojima | Akio Tsurudome | Kaichi Nitta | 2:27.5 |
| 1995 | Dance Partner | Yutaka Take | Katsumi Yoshida | Toshiaki Shirai | 2:26.7 |
| 1996 | Air Groove | Yutaka Take | Yuji Ito | Satoshi Yoshihara | 2:29.1 |
| 1997 | Mejiro Dober | Yutaka Yoshida | Yokichi Okubo | Mejiro Shoji | 2:27.7 |
| 1998 | Erimo Excel | Hitoshi Matoba | Keiji Kato | Shinichi Yamamoto | 2:28.1 |
| 1999 | Umeno Fiber | Masayoshi Ebina | Ikuo Aizawa | T Umezaki | 2:26.9 |
| 2000 | Silk Prima Donna | Shinja Fujita | Kenji Yamauchi | Silk Racing | 2:30.2 |
| 2001 | Lady Pastel | Kent Desormeaux | Kiyotaka Tanaka | Lord Horse Club | 2:26.3 |
| 2002 | Smile Tomorrow | Yutaka Yoshida | Kazuhiro Seishi | Masatake Iida | 2:27.7 |
| 2003 | Still in Love | Hideaki Miyuki | Shoichi Matsumoto | North Hills Management Co. | 2:27.5 |
| 2004 | Daiwa El Cielo | Yuichi Fukunaga | Kunihide Matsuda | Daiwa Shoji | 2:27.2 |
| 2005 | Cesario | Yuichi Fukunaga | Katsuhiko Sumii | Carrot Farm Co. | 2:28.8 |
| 2006 | Kawakami Princess | Masaru Honda | Katsuichi Nishiura | Mitsuishi Kawakami Bokujo | 2:26.2 |
| 2007 | Robe Decollete | Yuichi Fukunaga | Shigeki Matsumoto | Koji Maeda | 2:25.3 |
| 2008 | Tall Poppy | Kenichi Ikezoe | Katsuhiko Sumii | Carrot Farm | 2:28.8 |
| 2009 | Buena Vista | Katsumi Ando | Hiroyoshi Matsuda | Sunday Racing | 2:26.1 |
| 2010 | Apapane (DH) | Masayoshi Ebina | Sakae Kunieda | Kaneko Makoto Holdings | 2:29.9 |
| 2010 | Saint Emilion (DH) | Norihiro Yokoyama | Masaaki Koga | Teruya Yoshida | 2:29.9 |
| 2011 | Erin Court | Hiroki Goto | Kazuhide Sasada | Teruya Yoshida | 2:25.7 |
| 2012 | Gentildonna | Yuga Kawada | Sei Ishziaka | Sunday Racing | 2:23.6 |
| 2013 | Meisho Mambo | Koshiro Take | Akihiro Iida | Yoshio Matsumoto | 2:25.2 |
| 2014 | Nuovo Record | Yasunari Iwata | Makoto Saito | Reiko Hara | 2:25.8 |
| 2015 | Mikki Queen | Suguru Hamanaka | Yasuo Ikee | Mizuki Noda | 2:25.0 |
| 2016 | Sinhalite | Kenichi Ikezoe | Sei Ishizaka | U Carrot Farm | 2:25.0 |
| 2017 | Soul Stirring | Christophe Lemaire | Kazuo Fujisawa | Shadai Horse Race Co | 2:24.1 |
| 2018 | Almond Eye | Christophe Lemaire | Sakae Kunieda | Silk Racing | 2:23.8 |
| 2019 | Loves Only You | Mirco Demuro | Yoshito Yahagi | DMM Dream Club | 2:22.8 |
| 2020 | Daring Tact | Kohei Matsuyama | Haruki Sugiyama | Normandy Thoroughbred Racing | 2:24.4 |
| 2021 | Uberleben | Mirco Demuro | Takahisa Tezuka | K.Thoroughbred Club Ruffian | 2:24.5 |
| 2022 | Stars On Earth | Christophe Lemaire | Mizuki Takayanagi | Shadai Horse Race Co | 2:23.9 |
| 2023 | Liberty Island | Yuga Kawada | Mitsumasa Nakauchida | Sunday Racing | 2:23.1 |
| 2024 | Cervinia | Christophe Lemaire | Tetsuya Kimura | Sunday Racing | 2:24.0 |

## Earlier winners

* 1938 - Asteri Mor
* 1939 - Hoshi Homare
* 1940 - Rounella
* 1941 - Tetsu Banzai
* 1942 - Rock States
* 1943 - Kurifuji
* 1944 - no race
* 1945 - no race
* 1946 - Mitsumasa
* 1947 - Tokitsukaze
* 1948 - Yashima Hime
* 1949 - King Night
* 1950 - Koma Minoru
* 1951 - Kiyo Fuji
* 1952 - Swee Sue
* 1953 - Jitsu Homare
* 1954 - Yamaichi
* 1955 - Hiroichi
* 1956 - Fair Manna
* 1957 - Miss Onward
* 1958 - Miss Marusa
* 1959 - Okan
* 1960 - Star Roch
* 1961 - Chitose Hope
* 1962 - O Hayabusa
* 1963 - I.T.O.
* 1964 - Kane Keyaki
* 1965 - Bellona
* 1966 - Hiro Yoshi
* 1967 - Yama Pit
* 1968 - Lupinus
* 1969 - Shadai Tarquin
* 1970 - Jupique
* 1971 - Kane Himuro
* 1972 - Take Fubuki
* 1973 - Nasuno Chigusa
* 1974 - Toko Elsa
* 1975 - Tesco Gaby
* 1976 - Titania
* 1977 - Linear Queen
* 1978 - Five Hope
* 1979 - Agnes Lady
* 1980 - Kei Kiroku
* 1981 - Temmon
* 1982 - Shadai Ivor
* 1983 - Dyna Carle
* 1984 - Tokai Roman
* 1985 - Noah no Hakobune
* 1986 - Mejiro Ramonu
* 1987 - Max Beauty
* 1988 - Cosmo Dream
* 1989 - Light Color