The Tokyo Daishōten (東京大賞典) is a Japanese thoroughbred horse race on dirt track for three years old and above. It is run over a distance of 2,000 meters at Ōi Racecourse in the Shinagawa, Tokyo in the end of the year.
Sunday Silence was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In 1989, he won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes but failed to complete the Triple Crown when he was defeated in the Belmont Stakes. Nevertheless, he won the Breeders' Cup Classic and was voted American Champion Three-Year-Old Colt and American Horse of the Year that same year. Sunday Silence's racing career was marked by his rivalry with Easy Goer, whom he had a three to one edge over in their head-to-head races. Easy Goer, the 1988 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt finished second to Sunday Silence in the Kentucky Derby the Preakness, and the Breeders' Cup Classic. However, Easy Goer prevailed by eight lengths in the Belmont denying Sunday Silence the Triple Crown. Both horses were later voted into the American Hall of Fame.
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.
Makoto Kaneko is the Founder, President, CEO and Representative Director of Zuken Inc., a public listed multinational corporation in the Tokyo Stock Exchange. He also owns the exclusive golf club, The King Kamehameha Golf Club in Hawaii.
Yutaka Take is a Japanese jockey. Take made his riding debut in 1987 and currently holds seven all-time records in Japan. He has won at least one Grade 1 race for 23 straight years until 2010, and a graded stakes race for 36 consecutive years. Take has 114 wins to his credit in eight countries, including Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Korea, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States. His international victories includes Group 1 wins in the Prix d'Ispahan (France) and Hong Kong Cup, two races timed by Longines, the July Cup (England) and Dubai Duty Free Stakes (UAE).
Christophe Patrice Lemaire is a French-born jockey. He has enjoyed much of his success on the Japanese flat racing circuit, with the most wins at Japan Racing Association racetracks for five consecutive years since 2017.
Deputy Minister was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred horse racing Champion. At age two, he won eight out of his nine starts and was voted both the Sovereign and Eclipse Awards for Champion 2-Year-Old in Canada and the United States respectively. He also received Canada's Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year. Although his three-year-old campaign was restricted by injury, Deputy Minister rebounded at age four with several major wins.
Katsuhiko Sumii is a Japanese horse trainer. He trained the first and second placing horses in the 2006 Melbourne Cup, Delta Blues and Pop Rock. Other notable horses Sumii has trained include Kane Hekili, Vodka, Victoire Pisa, and Epiphaneia.
Dylan Thomas is a retired Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. In a racing career which lasted from June 2005 until December 2007, he ran twenty times and won ten races. After winning two minor races in 2005 he improved to become one of the leading European three-year-olds of 2006, winning the Irish Derby and the Irish Champion Stakes as well as finishing a close third in The Derby. In 2007 he won three of Europe's most important weight-for-age races, taking the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, a second Irish Champion Stakes and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp. His performances led to his being named European Horse of the Year in 2007.
Horse racing is a popular equestrian sport in Japan, 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.
Casino Drive is an American thoroughbred racehorse.
Japanese Best Dirt Horse is a title awarded annually by the Japan Racing Association (JRA). Since 1987 the honor has been part of the JRA Awards.
The 2006 Dubai World Cup was a horse race held at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse on Saturday 25 March 2006. It was the 11th running of the Dubai World Cup.
Marialite is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She was slow to mature and did not race until she was three years old when she won two minor races. She finally emerged as a top class performer in 2015 when she won the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup. In the following year she recorded her biggest victory when she defeated male opposition to take the Takarazuka Kinen and received the JRA Award for Best Older Filly or Mare.
Isla Bonita is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. As a juvenile in 2013 he showed very promising form as he won three of his four races including the Icho Stakes and the Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes. In the following year he took the JRA Award for Best Three-Year-Old Colt after winning the Kyodo Tsushin Hai, Satsuki Sho and St Lite Kinen as well as finishing second in the Tokyo Yushun and third in the autumn edition of the Tenno Sho. He failed to win in the net two years but ran well in several major races, being placed in the Tenno Sho and two runnings of the Mile Championship. In his final season he returned to winning form, taking the Yomiuri Milers Cup and the Hanshin Cup.
Fuji Kiseki is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was the best Japanese two-year-old of his generation in 1994 when he won all three of his starts including the Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes. In the following spring he took his unbeaten run to four with a win in the Yayoi Sho before his racing career was ended by injury. After his retirement from racing he became a very successful breeding stallion. He died in 2015 at the age of 23.
The Unicorn Stakes is a Grade 3 horse race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run in April over a distance of 1,900 metres on dirt at Kyoto Racecourse.
The Derby Grand Prix, is a race for three-year-olds in the Iwate Prefecture Horse Racing Association.
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.
