Japanese Oaks

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗
Yushun Himba
Japanese Oaks
優駿牝馬
オークス
2022 Yushun Himba winner Stars On Earth
ClassGrade 1
LocationTokyo Racecourse, Fuchū, Tokyo
InauguratedNovember 23, 1938
Race typeThoroughbred Flat racing
Race information
Distance2400 meters
SurfaceTurf
TrackLeft-handed
Qualification3-y-o, Fillies
Weight55 kg
Purse¥ 324,500,000 (as of 2025)
  • 1st: ¥ 150,000,000
  • 2nd: ¥ 60,000,000
  • 3rd: ¥ 38,000,000
BonusesFillies Triple Crown
Winner of Oka Sho, Yushun Himba, Shuka Sho[1]
¥ 100,000,000

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

The Yūshun Himba was first contested in 1938 as Hanshin Yūshun Himba (阪神優駿牝馬) at Naruo Racecourse in Nishinomiya, Hyogo, and it is regarded as the Japanese equivalent of the English Epsom Oaks.

Race distance was first set to 2,700 metres and shortened to 2,450 metres in 1940, then again shortened to 2,400 metres in 1943 at Kyoto Racecourse. After a two-year hiatus, the race was renamed to the Yūshun Himba in 1946 and it was staged at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo over a distance of 2,400 metres.

It was held in October or November in early years, then moved to mid-to-late May since 1953.

It is one of Japan's five Classic races, and the second of two restricted to fillies. It can also serve as the second leg of the Japanese Triple Tiara, preceded by the Ōka Shō (the Japanese equivalent of the English 1,000 Guineas) in early April, and followed by the Shuka Sho in mid October.

Since 2010, the Yūshun Himba (along with several other JRA Japanese domestic Grade 1 races, including other Japanese classics such as the Ōka Shō, the Satsuki Shō, the Tōkyō Yūshun and the Kikuka Shō) is open to international competition due to Japan's inclusion in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities' ICS Part I category, in which all graded black-type races in the JRA calendar are open to international competition.

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, marking the first time that a Grade 1 race in Japan resulted in a dead heat for the win.[2][3][4]

On May 20, 2018, Almond Eye won the 2,400-meter Yushun Himba over Lily Noble by two lengths.[5][6]

On May 24, 2026, jockey Seina Imamura made history by becoming the first Japanese female rider to win a flat Grade 1 race in Japan, by winning the Yushun Himba on board Juryoku Pierrot.[7][8]

Trial races

Trial races provide automatic berths to the winning horses or placed horses as specified.[9]

Race Grade Racecourse Distance Condition
Oka Sho GI Hanshin 1,600 meters Top 5 horses
Flora Stakes GII Tokyo 2,000 meters Top 2 horses
Sweetpea Stakes Listed Tokyo 1,800 meters Winner

Other step races

Races listed below does not provide automatic berths, but still important steps for this race.

Race Grade Racecourse Distance
Wasurenagusa Sho Listed Hanshin 2,000 meters

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 Toshiaki Shirai Katsumi Yoshida 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[3] Apapane (DH) Masayoshi Ebina Sakae Kunieda Kaneko Makoto Holdings 2:29.9
Saint Emilion (DH) Norihiro Yokoyama Masaaki Koga Teruya Yoshida
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[a]
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
2025 Kamunyak Andrasch Starke Yasuo Tomomichi Kaneko Makoto Holdings 2:25.7
2026 Juryoku Pierrot Seina Imamura Ryo Terashima Kensuke Kondo 2:25.6
  1. Set the current race record

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 - Verona
  • 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

See also

References

  1. "同一年度に本会が定める競走に優勝した馬に対する褒賞金交付基準" (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan Racing Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2025-09-18. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  2. "Apapane, Saint Emilion take Yushun Himba in deadheat". Archived from the original on 2010-05-26. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  3. "Detailed analysis and results of the 71st Yushun Himba" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  4. "Horse racing: Apapane, Saint Emilion joint winners at Japanese Oaks". Kyodo News. Mainichi Shimbun. 2010-05-23. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  5. Hersh, Marcus (October 14, 2018), Almond Eye sweeps Japan's Fillies Triple Crown, DRF, archived from the original on October 14, 2018, retrieved October 14, 2018
  6. Kieckhefer, Bob (May 20, 2018), Almond Eye Takes Second Leg of Japan's Triple Tiara, Blood Horse, archived from the original on October 15, 2018, retrieved October 14, 2018
  7. Playle, Maddie; Takahashi, Masakazu (May 24, 2026). "History made in Tokyo as 22-year-old rider becomes first Japanese woman to win domestic Grade 1". Racing Post. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  8. "Horse racing: Female jockey Imamura makes history by winning Japanese Oaks". The Mainichi Shimbun. Kyodo News. May 24, 2026. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  9. "競馬番組一般事項(Horseracing Program General Information) - Page 19" (PDF). JRA. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 27, 2024. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  10. "オークス". Netkeiba. Archived from the original on 2023-12-22. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
  11. "Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks)". Netkeiba. Archived from the original on 2023-12-22. Retrieved 2023-12-22.