The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, often shortened to Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for Thoroughbreds, often restricted to three-year-olds. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment in Thoroughbred racing. The term originated in mid-19th-century England and nations where Thoroughbred racing is popular each have their own Triple Crown series.
The Japan Racing Association is a public company established to operate Chūō Keiba and to manage racecourses, betting facilities, and horse-training facilities.
Kyoto Racecourse is located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is used for horse racing. It has a capacity of 120,000. The current stand was built in 1999.
The Japan Cup is one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan. It is contested on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters run under weight for age conditions with a maximum of 18 horses on turf (grass). With a purse of ¥1,085 million, the Japan Cup is one of the richest races in the world.
The Dubai Turf, known as Dubai Duty Free 1996 to 2014. is a Group 1 flat horse race in the United Arab Emirates for four-year-old and above thoroughbreds run over a distance of 1,800 metres on the turf at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai during the Dubai World Cup Night in March.
The Centaur Stakes is a Grade 2 flat horse race in Japan for three-year-old and above thoroughbreds run over a distance of 1,200 metres at Hanshin Racecourse in September.
Chukyo Racecourse is located in Toyoake, Aichi, Japan. It is used for horse racing. It was built in 1953. It has a capacity of 58,400. It has 8,795 seats. Unlike the JRA's nine other racecourses, it is independent of the JRA, with most of the racecourse owned and run by Nagoya Horse Racing Co.,Ltd.
The Hanshin Cup is a Grade 2 race in Japan. It is held at Hanshin Racecourse in Takarazuka, Hyogo.
Horse racing in Japan is a popular equestrian sport, with more than 21,000 horse races held each year. There are three types of racing that take place in Japan - flat racing, jump racing, and Ban'ei Racing.
The Takamatsunomiya Kinen (高松宮記念) is a Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan for four-year-old and above thoroughbreds. It is run over a distance of 1,200 metres at Chukyo Racecourse in late March.
Mejiro McQueen was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was a late-maturing horse who did not emerge as a top-class performer until the autumn of his three-year-old season when he won the Kikuka Sho. Over the next three years he proved himself one of the best stayers in Japan with wins in the Tenno Sho (twice), Takarazuka Kinen, Osaka Hai, Kyōto Daishōten (twice) and Hanshin Daishoten (twice). He won the JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse in 1991 and was inducted into the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame shortly after his retirement from racing.
Neo Universe was a retired Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In 2003 he won the Satsuki Shō and the Tokyo Yūshun, but was defeated when attempting to complete the Japanese Triple Crown in the Kikuka Shō. He was retired from racing after winning once in 2004 and has become a successful sire of winners.
Marvelous Crown was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1994 Japan Cup. He showed promise as a juvenile in 1992 but became increasingly temperamental and was gelded. He was off the course for ten months before returning to win three of his four races in the following year. As a four-year-old he showed steady improvement, winning the Grade III Kinko Sho and the Grade II Kyoto Daishoten before defeating a strong international field in the Japan Cup. He remained in training until 1997 but made only five more appearances before his career was ended by injury. He died in 2007.
Curren Chan is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse who won two JRA Awards. After finishing second on her only start as a juvenile she won three minor races from five starts as a three-year-old in 2010. She emerged as a top-class sprinter in 2011 when she won five consecutive races including the Hanshin Himba Stakes, Hakodate Sprint Stakes, Keeneland Cup and the Sprinters Stakes and won the JRA Award for Best Sprinter or Miler. In 2012 she was overshadowed by her stablemate Lord Kanaloa but won the Takamatsunomiya Kinen and took the JRA Award for Best Older Filly or Mare.
Asia Express is an American-bred, Japan-based Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was bred in Florida and exported as a two-year-old to Japan where he began his career on dirt and won two races before switching to turf to win the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes. At the end of the year he was the top-rated juvenile in Japan and took the JRA Award for Best Two-Year-Old Colt. In the following year he was beaten in the Spring Stakes and the Satsuki Sho before reverting to dirt and winning the Leopard Stakes. He raced sporadically over the next two seasons but never won again.
The Procyon Stakes is a Grade 3 horse race for Thoroughbreds aged three and over, run in July over a distance of 1400 metres on dirt at Chukyo Racecourse.
Mozu Ascot is an American-bred Japanese-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who won Grade 1 races on turf and dirt. He did not race as a two-year-old in 2016 but in the following year he won four minor races. As a four-year-old he won the Yasuda Kinen as well as finishing second in the Hankyu Hai, Yomiuri Milers Cup and Swan Stakes. He failed to win in 2019 but returned to winning form when switched to race on dirt in 2020, taking the Negishi Stakes and the February Stakes. He was retired from racing at the end of the season.
Kurofune was an American-bred, Japanese-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire who won Grade 1 races on both turf and dirt. He showed promising form as a juvenile in 2000 when he won two of four races and ran third in a very strong edition of the Radio Tampa Hai Sansai Stakes. In the following year he took the Mainichi Hai and the NHK Mile Cup in spring on turf before being switched to dirt racing in late autumn and winning the Musashino Stakes and the Japan Cup Dirt. He won six of his ten races, four of them in track record times, before his track career was ended by injury. After his retirement from racing he became a very successful breeding stallion.
Naran Huleg is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist sprinter he showed good, but unremarkable form in his early career, winning a race on dirt as a two-year-old in 2018 and three minor races on turf in the following year. He failed to win for over two years before winning the Tanzanite Stakes in December 2021 although he ran well in defeat in several races in the interim. As a six-year-old in 2022 he recorded an upset victory in the Grade 1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen.
