Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Japan)

Horse race
1+3⁄8 miles)SurfaceTurfTrackRight-handedQualification3-y-o & Up, Fillies & Mares only, ThoroughbredsWeight3-y-o 54 kg \ 4-y-o & up 56 kgPurse¥ 281,800,000 (as of 2023)
1st: ¥ 130,000,000

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.[1]

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. In 2010 Snow Fairy from England, being the first winner 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, which 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
 Distance (meters) Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Time
1976 Diamante 3 2400 Yukiharu Matsuda Yukio Inaba Hiroyoshi Sato 2:28.5
1977 Inter Gloria 3 2400 Yoichi Fukunaga Tsugio Yanagida Masao Matsuoka 2:28.7
1978 Lead Swallow 3 2400 Kunihiko Take Masatoshi Hattori Yoshio Kumamoto 2:29.1
1979 Miss Kaburaya 3 2400 Yukio Okabe Tokachi Nishizuka Kaburaya 2:32.6
1980 Hagino Top Lady 3 2400 Kiyoaki Ito Shuji Ito Kokichi Hinokuma 2:27.9
1981 Agnes Tesco 3 2400 Katsuichi Nishiura Michio Kubo Takao Watanabe 2:28.1
1982 Victoria Crown 3 2400 Isao Shimada Yukio Inaba Masahi Iida 2:29.2
1983 Long Grace 3 2400 Hiroshi Kawachi Minoru Kobayashi Choichi Nakai 2:30.1
1984 Kyowa Thunder 3 2400 Hiroshi Higuchi Hachiro Yoshioka Yoshio Asakawa 2:28.4
1985 Reward Wing 3 2400 Kunio Uchida Akio Tsurudome Tadahiko Miyazaki 2:26.8
1986 Mejiro Ramonu 3 2400 Hiroshi Kawachi Shinji Okuhira Mejiro Bokujo 2:29.1
1987 Talented Girl 3 2400 Seiji Ebisawa Hironori Kurita Masako Iida 2:29.3
1988 Miyama Poppy 3 2400 Yukiharu Matsuda Yoshitaro Matsuda Ryogo Omiya 2:27.2
1989 Sand Peeress 3 2400 Shigehiko Kishi Shinobu Yoshioka Hidaka Breeders Union 2:28.8
1990 Kyoei Tap 3 2400 Norihiro Yokoyama Kenji Hieda Masao Matsuoka 2:25.5
1991 Rinden Lilly 3 2400 Junichiro Oka Akira Nomoto Akitoshi Hayashida 2:29.6
1992 Takeno Velvet 3 2400 Shinji Fujita Minoru Kobayashi Daikichi Takeoka 2:27.1
1993 Hokuto Vega 3 2400 Kazuhiro Kato Takao Nakano Kanamorimori Shoji 2:24.9
1994 Hishi Amazon 3 2400 Eiji Nakadate Takao Nakano Masaichiro Abe 2:24.3
1995 Sakura Candle 3 2400 Futoshi Kojima Kazunori Sakai Sakura Commerce 2:27.3
1996 Dance Partner 4 2200 Hirofumi Shii Toshiaki Shirai Katsumi Yoshida 2:14.3
1997 Erimo Chic 4 2200 Hitoshi Matoba Yoshio Oki Shinichi Yamamoto 2:12.5
1998 Mejiro Dober 4 2200 Yutaka Yoshida Yokichi Okubo Mejiro Shoji 2:12.8
1999 Mejiro Dober 5 2200 Yutaka Yoshida Yokichi Okubo Mejiro Shoji 2:13.5
2000 Phalaenopsis 5 2200 Mikio Matsunaga Mitsumasa Hamada North Hills Management Co Ltd 2:12.8
2001 To the Victory 5 2200 Yutaka Take Yasuo Ikee Makoto Kaneko 2:11.2
2002 Fine Motion 3 2200 Yutaka Take Yuji Ito Tatsuo Fushikida 2:13.2
2003 Admire Groove 3 2200 Yutaka Take Mitsuru Hashida Riichi Kondo 2:11.8
2004 Admire Groove 4 2200 Yutaka Take Mitsuru Hashida Riichi Kondo 2:13.6
2005 Sweep Tosho 4 2200 Kenichi Ikezoe Akio Tsurudome Tosho Sangyo 2:12.5
2006 Fusaichi Pandora [a] 3 2200 Yuichi Fukunaga Toshiaki Shirai Fusao Sekiguchi 2:11.6
2007 Daiwa Scarlet 3 2200 Katsumi Ando Kunihide Matsuda Keizo Oshiro 2:11.9
2008 Little Amapola 3 2200 Christophe Lemaire Hiroyuki Nagahama Shadai Racehorse Co 2:12.1
2009 Queen Spumante 5 2200 Hiroyasu Tanaka Shigeyuki Kojima Green Farm 2:13.6
2010 Snow Fairy 3 2200 Ryan Moore Ed Dunlop Anamoine Ltd 2:12.5
2011 Snow Fairy 4 2200 Ryan Moore Ed Dunlop Anamoine Ltd 2:11.6
2012 Rainbow Dahlia 5 2200 Yoshitomi Shibata Yoshitaka Ninomiya Yoshiko Tanaka 2:16.3
2013 Meisho Mambo 3 2200 Koshiro Take Akihiro Iida Yoshio Matsumoto 2:16.6
2014 Lachesis 4 2200 Yuga Kawada Katsuhiko Sumii Masaya Oshima 2:12.3
2015 Marialite 4 2200 Masayoshi Ebina Takashi Kubota U Carrot Farm 2:14.9
2016 Queens Ring 4 2200 Mirco Demuro Keiji Yoshimura Chizu Yoshida 2:12.9
2017 Mozu Katchan 3 2200 Mirco Demuro Ippo Sameshima Capital System Co. Ltd 2:14.3
2018 Lys Gracieux 4 2200 João Moreira Yoshito Yahagi U Carrot Farm 2:13.1
2019 Lucky Lilac 4 2200 Christophe Soumillon Mikio Matsunaga Sunday Racing 2:14.1
2020 Lucky Lilac [b] 5 2200 Christophe Lemaire Mikio Matsunaga Sunday Racing 2:10.3
2021 Akai Ito [b] 4 2200 Hideaki Miyuki Kazuya Nakatake Koji Oka 2:12.1
2022 Geraldina [b] 4 2200 Cristian Demuro Takashi Saito Sunday Racing 2:13.0
2023 Brede Weg 3 2200 Christophe Lemaire Keisuke Miyata Sunday Racing 2:12.6

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.

See also

References

  • Netkeiba:[2][3]
    • 1976 en, 1977 en, 1978 en, 1979 en, 1980 en, 1981 en, 1982 en, 1983 en, 1984 en, 1985 en, 1986 en, 1987 en, 1988 en, 1989 en, 1990 en, 1991 en, 1992 en, 1993 en, 1994 en, 1995 en, 1996 en, 1997 en, 1998 en, 1999 en, 2000 en, 2001 en, 2002 en, 2003 en, 2004 en, 2005 en, 2006 en, 2007 en, 2008 en, 2009 en, 2010 en, 2011 en, 2012 en, 2013 en, 2014 en, 2015 en, 2016 en, 2017 en, 2018 en, 2019 en, 2020 en, 2021 en, 2022 en, 2023 en
  • Racing Post:
    • 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
    • 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
    • 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
  1. ^ "1970年に3歳牝馬三冠競走の最終戦として創設された「ビクトリアカップ」が前身". JRA. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  2. ^ "エリザベス女王杯". Netkeiba.
  3. ^ "Queen Elizabeth 2 Cup". Netkeiba.

External links

  • Horse Racing in Japan
  • v
  • t
  • e
Japan Racing Association (JRA) GI Races
(International GI)
National Association of Racing (NAR) JpnI and GI Races
(Domestic or international GI races, dirt)
JRA Steeplechase Races (J-GI races)
Domestic Grade I Equivalent Ban'ei Races
See also