The is an International Grade I horse race held at Tokyo Racecourse, Japan in late October or early November. It is run over a distance of on turf. It is considered the first leg of the Japanese Autumn Triple Crown, the other two being the Japan Cup and the Arima Kinen.

Originally, the Autumn Tennō Shō was run over a distance of , but was shortened to its current distance in 1984 to promote middle-distance horses and to promote 3-year-old horses as a shorter-distance alternative to the Kikuka Sho, the Japanese St. Leger, which is .

History

Early years One of the origin of the Tennō Shō is The Emperor's Cup first contested at Negishi Racecourse in 1905, prized from the Emperor for the winner, and later renamed as Teishitsu Goshōten until 1937. Another origin is Yushō Naikokusanba Rengō Kyōsō run over 3,200 metres, held twice a year between 1911 and 1937 to determine the best horse of the year. The Tennō Shō was established in 1937 to unify these prestigious races under the name of the Emperor, and therefore it is regarded as the most prestigious horse race in Japan since then.

Prior to 1980, a horse winning a Tennō Shō was not allowed to participate in future editions of the race again, but this ban was lifted in 1981.

Contrary to the Tennō Shō (Spring) held at Kyoto Racecourse, that has only one mare winner Leda in 1953, there are 10 mare winners at the Tennō Shō (Autumn) when its distance was 3,200 metres until 1983; Hisatomo (1938), Nipatois (1942), Yashima Daughter (1950), Queen Narubi (1953), Opal Orchid (1954), Cellulose (1958), Garnet (1959), Kurihide (1962), Tomei (1971) and Pretty Cast (1980) are the mare winners of this race.

Recent years In 1984, the Japan Racing Association introduced Group races into their big races, and Tennō Shō is designated as Grade 1 (domestic grade at that time). At the same time the distance of the Tennō Shō (Autumn) was shortened from 3,200 metres to 2,000 metres, while the Tennō Shō (Spring) held at Kyoto Racecourse remained its distance as 3,200 metres, thus the Tennō Shō (Autumn) has changed its characteristics to determine best middle-distance horse, while Tennō Shō (Spring) remained its characteristics to determine best stayer.

Prior to 2000, the participants of the Tennō Shō was limited to the horses born and trained in Japan. In 2000, maximum of two foreign-bred horses trained in Japan acquired the rights to participate the race, and then became an international horse race in 2005, maximum of five foreign-trained horses can run the race. In 2008, the race also became open to geldings.

Since the distance of the race was shortened to 2,000 metres in 1984, there are five mare winners at the Tennō Shō (Autumn); Air Groove (1997), Heavenly Romance (2005), Vodka (2008), Buena Vista (2010) and Almond Eye (2019 and 2020) are the mare winners of this race.

The current record holder for this race is Equinox who set up a time of 1:55.2 in 2023, beating previous record holder Tosen Jordan by point nine seconds.

The Tennō Shō (Autumn) was held in the Emperor's presence three times, in 2005, 2012 and 2023. Winning jockey in 2005 (Mikio Matsunaga, riding on Heavenly Romance) and 2023 (Christophe Lemaire, riding on Equinox) made profound obeisance to the Emperor and the Empress riding on the winner, and in 2012, Mirco Demuro kneeled and performed a profound bow to the Emperor and the Empress after dismounting from the winner Eishin Flash.

Trial races Trial races provide automatic berths to the winning horses. RaceGradeRacecourseDistanceConditionSankei Sho All ComersGIINakayama2,200 metresWinnerMainichi OkanGIITokyo1,800 metresWinnerKyoto DaishotenGIIKyoto2,400 metresWinner

Winners since 1984 Year Winner Age Jockey Trainer Owner Time 1984 Mr. C.B. 4 Masato Yoshinaga Yasuhisa Matsuyama Chigira Bokujo 1:59.3 1985 Gallop Dyna 5 Yasuhiro Nemoto Susumu Yano Shadai Racehorse 1:58.7 1986 Sakura Yutaka O 4 Futoshi Kojima Katsutaro Sakai Sakura Commerce 1:58.3 1987 Nippo Teio 4 Hiroyuki Gohara Kinzo Kubota Yuichi Yamaishi 1:59.7 1988 Tamamo Cross 4 Katsumi Minai Isami Obara Tamamo Co., Ltd. 1:58.8 1989 Super Creek 4 Yutaka Take Shuji Ito Makoto Kikura 1:59.1 1990 Yaeno Muteki 5 Yukio Okabe Mitsuo Ogino Fuji Ltd. 1:58.2 1991 Prekrasnie 4 Teruo Eda Terumaso Yano Eijiro Tajima 2:03.9 1992 Let's Go Tarquin 5 Shoichi Osaki Kojiro Hashiguchi Diners Club Japan 1:58.6 1993 Yamanin Zephyr 4 Yoshitomi Shibata Hironori Kurita Hajime Doi 1:58.9 1994 Nehai Caesar 4 Katsumi Shiomura Akira Huse Daimaru Enterprise 1:58.6 1995 Sakura Chitose O 5 Futoshi Kojima Katsutaro Sakai Sakura Commerce 1:58.8 1996 Bubble Gum Fellow 3 Masayoshi Ebina Kazuo Fujisawa Shadai Racehorse 1:58.7 1997 Air Groove 4 Yutaka Take Yuji Ito Lucky Field Co Ltd 1:59.0 1998 Offside Trap 7 Yoshitomi Shibata Shuho Kato Takashi Watanabe 1:59.3 1999 Special Week 4 Yutaka Take Toshiaki Shirai Hiroyoshi Usuda 1:58.0 2000 T. M. Opera O 4 Ryuji Wada Ichizo Iwamoto Masatsugu Takezono 1:59.9 2001 Agnes Digital 4 Hirofumi Shii Toshiaki Shirai Takao Watanabe 2:02.0 2002 Symboli Kris S 3 Yukio Okabe Kazuo Fujisawa Symboli Stud 1:58.5 2003 Symboli Kris S 4 Olivier Peslier Kazuo Fujisawa Symboli Stud 1:58.0 2004 Zenno Rob Roy 4 Olivier Peslier Kazuo Fujisawa Shinobu Osako 1:58.9 2005 Heavenly Romance 5 Mikio Matsunaga Masashi Yamamoto North Hills Management 2:00.1 2006 Daiwa Major 5 Katsumi Ando Hiroyuki Uehara Keizou Ooshiro 1:58.8 2007 Meisho Samson 4 Yutaka Take Shigetada Takahashi Yoshio Matsumoto 1:58.4 2008 Vodka 4 Yutaka Take Katsuhiko Sumii Yuzo Tanimizu 1:57.2 2009 Company 8 Norihiro Yokoyama Hidetaka Otonashi Eiko Kondou1:57.2 2010 Buena Vista 4 Christophe Soumillon Hiroyoshi Matsuda Sunday Racing Co Ltd1:58.2 2011 Tosen Jordan 5 Nicola Pinna Yasutoshi Ikee Takaya Shimakawa1:56.1 2012 Eishin Flash 5 Mirco Demuro Hideaki Fujiwara Toyomitsu Hirai1:57.3 2013 Just A Way 4 Yuichi Fukunaga Naosuke Sugai Akatsuki Yamatoya1:57.5 2014 Spielberg 5 Hiroshi Kitamura Kazuo Fujisawa Hidetoshi Yamamoto1:59.7 2015 Lovely Day 5 Suguru Hamanaka Yasutoshi Ikee Kaneko Makoto Holdings1:58.4 2016 Maurice 5 Ryan Moore Noriyuki Hori Kazumi Yoshida1:59.3 2017 Kitasan Black 5 Yutaka Take Hisashi Shimizu Ono Shoji2:08.3 2018 Rey de Oro 4 Christophe Lemaire Kazuo Fujisawa U Carrot Farm1:56.8 2019 Almond Eye 4 Christophe Lemaire Sakae Kunieda Silk Racing1:56.2 2020 Almond Eye 5 Christophe Lemaire Sakae Kunieda Silk Racing1:57.8 2021 Efforia 3 Takeshi Yokoyama Yuichi Shikato Carrot Farm1:57.9 2022 Equinox 3 Christophe Lemaire Tetsuya Kimura Silk Racing 1:57.52023Equinox4Christophe LemaireTetsuya KimuraSilk Racing1:55.22024Do Deuce5Yutaka TakeYasuo TomomichiKieffers Co. Ltd.1:57.32025Masquerade Ball3Christophe LemaireTakahisa TezukaShadai Race Horse Co. Ltd.1:58.6

Mejiro McQueen finished first in 1991 but was demoted to last place following a Stewards' Inquiry.

The 2002 Autumn Tennō Shō was contested at Nakayama Racecourse, due to construction at Tokyo Racecourse.

Also Japanese record of flat racing for oldest horse winning first G1 race.

Earlier winners Source:

1937 – Happy Might 1938 - Hisatomo 1939 - Tetsumon 1940 – Rocky MorJBIS Japan Bloodstock Information System (Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association) 1941 - Estates 1942 - Nipatois 1943 - Kuri Hikari 1944 - No race 1945 - No race 1946 - No race 1947 - Toyo Ume 1948 - Katsu Fuji 1949 - Newford 1950 - Yashima Daughter 1951 - Hatakaze 1952 - Track O 1953 - Queen Narubi 1954 - Opal Orchid 1955 - Dainana Hoshu 1956 - Midfarm 1957 - Hakuchikara 1958 - Cellulose 1959 - Garnet 1960 - Ote Mon 1961 - Takamagahara 1962 - Kurihide 1963 - Ryu Forel 1964 - Yamato Kyodai 1965 - Shinzan 1966 - Korehide 1967 - Kabuto Ciro 1968 - Knit Eight 1969 - Mejiro Taiyo 1970 - Mejiro Asama 1971 - Tomei 1972 - Yamanin Wave 1973 - Tani no Chikara 1974 - Kami no Tesio 1975 - Fujino Parthia 1976 - Eyeful 1977 - Hokuto Boy 1978 - Tenmei 1979 - Three Giants 1980 - Pretty Cast 1981 - Hoyo Boy 1982 - Mejiro Titan 1983 - Kyoei Promise

See also Tennō Shō Tennō Shō (Spring) Horse racing in Japan List of Japanese flat horse races

References

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