.jpg) 2019 Takamatsunomiya Kinen winner Mr Melody | |
| Class | Grade 1 |
|---|---|
| Location | Chukyo Racecourse |
| Inaugurated | June 27, 1971 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred |
| Website | japanracing |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1200 metres (About 6 furlongs) |
| Surface | Turf |
| Track | Left-handed |
| Qualification | 4-y-o & Up, Thoroughbreds |
| Weight | 4-y-o & up 58 kg Allowances 2 kg forfillies andmares |
| Purse | ¥ 367,700,000 (as of 2025)
|
| Bonuses | seeGlobal Sprint Challenge |
TheTakamatsunomiya Kinen (高松宮記念) is aGrade 1flathorse race inJapan for four-year-old and abovethoroughbreds. It is run over a distance of 1,200 metres (approximately 6 furlongs) atChukyo Racecourse in late March.
The forerunner of this race was theChukyo Daishoten (中京大賞典). It was started as theTakamatsunomiya Hai (高松宮杯) when the victory cup was designed byPrince Takamatsu in 1971, and was given Domestic Grade 2 status when race grading was introduced to Japan in 1984. At the time, it was run over a distance of 2,000 metres. This was shortened to 1,200 metres and elevated to Domestic Grade 1 in 1996, and to its present level in 2006. Horses trained outside Japan have been eligible to run in the race since 2001. It was renamed the Takamatsunomiya Kinen in 1998 because the family of Prince Takamatsu stopped designing the victory cup.
From 2011, the Takamatsunomiya Kinen has taken over from theCentaur Stakes as one of the Japanese legs of theGlobal Sprint Challenge Series. It's the second race of the series, preceded by theLightning Stakes and followed by theDubai Golden Shaheen.
It is also the only JRA Grade 1 turf race not held at one of the 4 major racecourses (Hanshin,Kyoto,Nakayama,Tokyo).
Speed record:
Most wins by a horse (2):
Most wins by ajockey (3):
Most wins by atrainer (3):
Most wins by an owner (2):
| Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Flower Park | 4 | Seiki Tabara | Shouichi Matsumoto | Katsumi Yoshida | 1:07.4 |
| 1997 | Shinko King | 6 | Yukio Okabe | Kazuo Fujisawa | Osamu Yasuda | 1:08.0 |
| 1998 | Shinko Forest | 5 | Hirofumi Shii | Hironori Kurita | Osamu Yasuda | 1:09.1 |
| 1999 | Masa Lucky | 6 | Shinji Fujita | Yutaka Masumoto | Masataka Marui | 1:08.0 |
| 2000 | King Halo | 5 | Yoshitomi Shibata | Masahiro Sakaguchi | Yoshio Asagawa | 1:08.6 |
| 2001 | Trot Star | 5 | Masayoshi Ebina | Eiji Nakano | Minoru Takano | 1:08.4 |
| 2002 | Shounan Kamp | 4 | Shinji Fujita | Hiroyoshi Okubo | Tetsuo Kunimoto | 1:08.4 |
| 2003 | Believe | 5 | Katsumi Ando | Shigeki Matsumoto | Koji Maeda | 1:08.1 |
| 2004 | Sunningdale | 5 | Yuichi Fukunaga | Tsutomu Setoguchi | Shigeki Goto | 1:07.9 |
| 2005 | Admire Max | 6 | Yutaka Take | Mitsuru Hashida | Toshikazu Kondou | 1:08.4 |
| 2006 | Oreha Matteruze | 6 | Yoshitomi Shibata | Hidetaka Otonashi | Yuuichi Odagiri | 1:08.0 |
| 2007 | Suzuka Phoenix | 5 | Yutaka Take | Mitsuru Hashida | Keiji Nagai | 1:08.9 |
| 2008 | Fine Grain | 5 | Hideaki Miyuki | Hiroyuki Nagahama | Shadai Race Horse | 1:08.9 |
| 2009 | Laurel Guerreiro | 5 | Shinji Fujita | Mitsugu Kon | Laurel Racing | 1:08.0 |
| 2010 | Kinshasa no Kiseki | 7 | Hirofumi Shii | Noriyuki Hori | Kazumi Yoshida | 1:08.6 |
| 2011 | Kinshasa no Kiseki* | 8 | Umberto Rispoli | Noriyuki Hori | Kazumi Yoshida | 1:07.9 |
| 2012 | Curren Chan | 5 | Kenichi Ikezoe | Takayuki Yasuda | Takashi Suzuki | 1:10.3 |
| 2013 | Lord Kanaloa | 5 | Yasunari Iwata | Takayuki Yasuda | Lord Horse Club | 1:08.1 |
| 2014 | Copano Richard | 4 | Mirco Demuro | Toru Miya | Sachiaki Kobayashi | 1:12.2 |
| 2015 | Aerovelocity | 7 | Zac Purton | Paul O'Sullivan | Daniel Yeung Ngai | 1:08.5 |
| 2016 | Big Arthur | 5 | Yuichi Fukanaga | Kenichi Fujioka | Akira Nakatsuji | 1:06.7 |
| 2017 | Seiun Kosei | 4 | Hideaki Miyuki | Hiroyuki Uehara | Shigeyuki Nishiyama | 1:08.7 |
| 2018 | Fine Needle | 5 | Yuga Kawada | Yoshitada Takahashi | Godolphin | 1:08.5 |
| 2019 | Mr Melody | 4 | Yuichi Fukunaga | Hideaki Fujiwara | Green Fields Co. Ltd. | 1:07.3 |
| 2020 | Mozu Superflare | 5 | Fuma Matsuwaka | Hidetaka Otonashi | Capital System Co. Ltd. | 1:08.7 |
| 2021 | Danon Smash | 6 | Yuga Kawada | Takayuki Yasuda | Danox Co. Ltd. | 1:09.2 |
| 2022 | Naran Huleg | 6 | Kyosuke Maruta | Yoshitada Munakata | Katsushige Muraki | 1:08.3 |
| 2023 | First Force | 7 | Taisei Danno | Masayuki Nishimura | Koji Yasuhara | 1:11.5 |
| 2024 | Mad Cool | 5 | Ryusei Sakai | Manabu Ikezoe | Sunday Racing Co. Ltd. | 1:08.9 |
| 2025 | Satono Reve | 6 | João Moreira | Noriyuki Hori | Hajime Satomi | 1:07.9 |