Okay, NOW for real let’s talk about the Classic Triple Crown.

First, in case any of you need the context: “Classic” in this case refers to horses that are three years old, that are past their debut and into their first full year of racing. Horses that are four years and older are called “Senior” instead.

They’re just as Senior 4 years in as they might be 7 years in. It should be noted, however, that horse age notation changed in 2001, where before then a horse was born at 1 year old and then the new notation is the normal way age is counted. This is why you might see “old notation” specified sometimes.

The Japanese Triple Crown is modeled after the British Triple Crown. The Satsuki Sho is a close equivalent to the 2000 Guineas Stakes, the Tokyo Yushun is called the Nihon Derby because it’s a parallel to the Derby Stakes, and the Kikuka Sho finishes the trio the same way that the St. Leger Stakes does.

Main difference is that because of imperial vs metric the distances between the races in both countries vary. Satsuki Sho is 2000m while the 2000 Guineas Stakes is 1609m, Nihon Derby is 2400m while Derby stakes is 2419m, and Kikuka Sho is 3000m while St. Leger Stakes is 2921m.

The Triple Crown is composed of some of the oldest races in Japan’s history, and one of the things that makes it special is how it tests the new and aspirant horses in three very different ways. But let’s go into detail about each.

Satsuki Sho

The most recent one of the trio, the Satsuki Sho was formed in 1939, but it wasn’t called that back then, it started life instead as the “Yokohama Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Prize for Four Year Olds”.

Yeah “Four year olds”, see the comment about horse age notation earlier to see why.

It wouldn’t get its current name until 1949 when it was moved to its current home at the Nakayama racecourse (after the Yokohama racecourse closed in 1943). It was named Satsuki Sho because Satsuki is the name of the fifth month in the lunar calendar. But whereas Satsuki tends to be written the same way you write May nowadays (五月, fifth moon/month), the race was instead spelled with a more archaic kanji (皐).

Then it was moved to April in 1952 making the name a bit of a relic.

Winning the Satsuki Sho is important because the top five of this race will be given priority for the Nihon Derby. Likewise, entry into the Satsuki Sho will be prioritized for those that win the Yayoi Sho (full name: Yayoi Sho Deep Impact Memorial) or the Spring Stakes in at least third place, or the Wakaba Stakes in at least second place.

The Keisei Hai, Kisaragi Sho, Kyoudou Tsuushin Hai, Mainichi Hai, Wakagoma Stakes, and Sumire Hai are considered part of the preliminary races for the Satsuki Sho (given that the conditions are the same so it’s a good test of how a horse will do in them) but victories in those doesn’t give priority entry.

Speaking of entries. Famously, Oguri Cap couldn’t enter into the Satsuki Sho despite having the qualifications due to the way races are registered and the fact that Oguri Cap being in the central circuit was a very last minute thing, relatively speaking. This eventually led to a system where additional registrations would be possible for a significantly higher fee (2 million yen as opposed to the regular 30.000 yen fee), and this in turn made it possible for TM Opera O to participate and win.

Foreign-bred horses began to be allowed to race in 2002, and then in 2010 it became a full international race, allowing foreign horses (as opposed to horses bred elsewhere but trained in Japan) to participate (up to nine after 2013).

The JRA has described the Satsuki Sho as being the race being won by the fastest horses, which might sound weird when you consider that the Nakayama racecourse has the shortest straight lines and most turns, but if you think about it, speed shines the most when you gotta recover your top speed after those tight turns.

Winners in the game include:

• St. Lite (1941)
• Haiseiko (1973)
• Mr CB (1983)
• Symboli Rudolf (1984)
• Yaeno Muteki (1988)
• Toukai Teio (1991)
• Mihono Bourbon (1992)
• Narita Taishin (1993)
• Narita Brian (1994)
• Seiun Sky (1998)
• TM Opera O (1999)
• Air Shakur (2000)
• Agnes Tachyon (2001)
• No Reason (2002)
• Neo Universe (2003)
• Orfevre (2011)
• Gold Ship (2012)
• Duramente (2015)

Names relevant to the game include:

• Tokino Minoru (1951)
• Bostonian (1953) (Mejiro McQueen’s ancestor)
• Toushou Boy (1976) (Mr CB and Daiichi Ruby’s father, Machikane Fukukitaru’s ancestor)
• Sakura Star O (1987) (Related in a way to Sakura Chiyono O‘s career)
• Daiwa Major (2004) (Daiwa Scarlet‘s brother)
• Deep Impact (2005) (A story for another day…)
• Meishou Samson (2006) (Handled by the same stablehand that handled Vodka)
• Contrail (2020) (We’ll get to him eventually…)

Tokyo Yushun (Nihon Derby)

The race, THE big race. So much so that in Japan the word “Derby” is short for this one specifically… which would make it kinda weird that it’s the second race in the Triple Crown, except that it used to be held around April before it and the Satsuki Sho effectively switched places.

I did wonder during the Sunday Silence post why the american triple crown’s first race had the same weight as the Japanese triple crown’s second. But to give you an idea of how important it is, before the grading system was introduced in 1984 and races had a more quantifiable prestige, the Nihon Derby was always in whatever moniker the races got. “The Two Major Races”? Tenno Sho and Nihon Derby, “Five Major Races”? The Nihon Derby was there, “Eight Major Races?” Nihon Derby was there. This is because, being founded in April 24 1932 it’s one of the oldest races still being run today.

By the way, did you know that the word “Derby” comes from how some british guy called Edward Smith Stanley was the 12th earl of Derby and he founded the Derby Stakes? It’s a bit like Silhouette is the name of some French guy.

If the Satsuki Sho is won by the Fastest horses, the Nihon Derby is won by the Luckiest horses (a comment more in reference to the original Derby Stakes but one that the race grew into). This might sound weird but where the winners of the Satsuki Sho are conventionally fast horses, the Nihon Derby is a race where anything can happen, where anyone can win. There’s horses that win this race and then nothing more almost like they’re granted the ultimate spotlight so they go out with a bang.

Ines Fujin’s legendary industry-changing victory, Vodka’s still-unmatched victory as the only father-daughter pair in that race, Sakura Chiyono Oh’s vindication for Maruzensky‘s lack of participation, Mirco Demuro’s first-attempt-first-victory with Duramente…

And that’s not even counting the myriad what ifs that the race had in the past. You see, the Nihon Derby didn’t start allowing foreign-bred horses until 2001 (and even then only up to two) or foreign horses at all until 2010 (up to nine like the Satsuki Sho), so there’s plenty of questions of what would’ve happened if horses left out due to these limitations were allowed in. Maruzensky is the main one, but people have speculated about the “Phantom Derby” also, AKA what if the rest of the Golden Generation (notably El Condor Pasa and Grass Wonder) had been allowed to run agains Special Week and the others?

Part of it is that the Tokyo racecourse is deceptively simple. It might look like a simple-if-big course (second behind the Niigata course), but it has legendary traps like the Dandara Slope (an uphill slope of about 2 meters total in height), a tricky starting gate, and the Keyaki/Zelkova of Fuchu.

The latter one is super interesting. There’s is a large Enoki/Hackberry (it’s not a Zelkova like people usually call it) tree producing an infamously difficult curve in the last stretches of the race. This is the turn where Silence Suzuka broke his leg by the way. And why is there a tree there? Because before the course was built that’s where the grave of Sengoku-era samurai Ida Koremasa was, and his descendants defended the grave sword in hand when the course was being built. There’s even a rumor that the trees will curse anyone that harms them, and a worker tasked with cutting one of them died.

Another feature that makes the races in the Nihon Derby and the Tokyo Racecourse so exciting is the fact that it has the longest final straight before the goal line, meaning that the last stretch of the race is always a spectacle of speed and tactics.

As mentioned, the first five places of the Satsuki Sho get priority for the Nihon Derby, but first places in the Principal Stakes, and up to second place in the Aoba Sho also get that priority. The Kyoto Shinbun Hai meanwhile, is the “we don’t give priority but it’s till a good test for this” race.

Winners in the game include:

• St. Lite (1941)
• Mr CB (1983)
• Symboli Rudolf (1984)
• Sirius Symboli (1985)
• Sakura Chiyono Oh (1988)
• Ines Fujin (1990)
• Toukai Teio (1991)
• Mihono Bourbon (1992)
• Winning Ticket (1993)
• Narita Brian (1994)
• Special Week (1998)
• Admire Vega (1999)
• Jungle Pocket (2001)
• Tanino Gimlet (2002)
• Neo Universe (2003)
• Vodka (2007)
• Eishin Flash (2010)
• Orfevre (2011)
• Duramente (2015)

Other relevant names include:

• Tokino Minoru (1951)
• Sakura Shouri (1978) (Samson Big’s father)
• Dyna Gulliver (1986) (Won against Mejiro Ramone)
• Agnes Flight (2000) (Agnes Tachyon’s brother)
• King Kamehameha (2004) (Maybe later…)
• Deep Impact (2005) (Remember that name)
• Meishou Samson (2006) (Also trained by the real life inspiration for Cinderella Gray’s Musaka)
• Deep Sky (2008) (Arguably Vodka’s rival in her later career)
• Makahiki (2016) (Satono Diamond’s own Duramente in a way)
• Contrail (2020) (He’s coming…!)

Kikuka Sho

The No Items Final Destination Fox Only of Japanese horseracing.

The Kikuka Sho (Kikuka meaning Chrysantemum) is the second-youngest race of the Triple Crown, it’s also the longest.

The Kikuka Sho is said to be the race where the strongest horses win. And this is because, as my initial line might suggest, it’s a race with very little frills to itself. It’s 3000m, it includes two uphil climbs, and very few turns. Honestly I’d go as far as to say that more than being where Strongest Horses win, it’s where Triple Crown Dreams Die.

It might sound dramatic, but if you put charts of the winners of each Triple Crown race side by side, you’ll quickly notice an abundance of people going 2 for 3 and falling off at the Kikuka Sho. This is because the skillset required both from jockey and horse is wildly different.

Longer races aren’t just about how to take tricky corners or be fast, they’re about managing stamina, about the psychology of making other racers exhausted by the time of the last stretch, about not letting yourself be trapped and be denied a spot in the final rush to the goal…

Though perhaps more interesting than the many horses that fell off by the last race (or by extension the horses that took said last victory away), is the horses that would’ve had a Triple Crown if not for failing the Nihon Derby specifically. In the game’s cast Seiun Sky and Air Shakur are the main ones that come to mind for this.

Horses that got first or second in the Ouka Sho, Satsuki Sho, Oaks, or Nihon Derby will be given priority to enter this race… curiously, horses that placed second or better in the NHK Mile Cup will also be given priority. This is kinda shocking considering that the NHK Mile is almost half of the distance of the race, but this is probably a carryover from when the NHK Mile Cup was a trial for the Nihon Derby.

Aside from these, top three in the St. Lite Kinen and Kobe Shinbun Hai will also be given priority.

I should note as a curiosity that legendary jockey Yutaka Take is as of this writing holding the title of both oldest AND youngest jockey to win this race (youngest with Super Creek at 19 years old, and then oldest with World Premiere at 50 years old)

From the game we have:

• St. Lite (1941)
• Mr CB (1983)
• Symboli Rudolf (1984)
• Super Creek (1988)
• Mejiro McQueen (1990)
• Rice Shower (1992)
• Biwa Hayahide (1993)
• Narita Brian (1994)
• Mayano Top Gun (1995)
• Machikane Fukukitaru (1997)
• Seiun Sky (1998)
• Narita Top Road (1999)
• Air Shakur (2000)
• Manhattan Cafe (2001)
• Hishi Miracle (2002)
• Orfevre (2011)
• Gold Ship (2012)
• Kitasan Black (2015)
• Satono Diamond (2016)

Assorted important names include:

• Deep Impact (2005) (Yeah)
• Oaken Bruce Lee (2008) (The likely inspiration for Bitter Glasse)
• Epiphaneia (2013) (Descended from Cesario and Symboli Kris S)
• Toho Jackal (2014) (Apparently the inspiration for Little Cocoon)
• Contrail (2020) (Yeah………)

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Reading up on the races really gives you a renewed appreciation for the accomplishments of some of the girls in the game.

Saying “Special Week won the Nihon Derby and then Seiun Sky won the other two Triple Crown races“ feels like an arbitrary bunch of words unless you realize not just how big of a deal it is that Seiun Sky (considered in real life both a slacker and genetic dead end) went two for three, but that Special Week got a win in the biggest stage.

Saying “Vodka was the third-ever Filly to win the Nihon Derby” feels like just random number trivia unless you realize there’s decades of difference between her victory and the one right before, or the fact that Vodka being the third filly is a big deal because the other two races have only ever had TWO Fillies as winners and all of them from before 1950.

Saying Hishi Miracle won the Kikuka Sho has more impact when you realize what kind of race the Kikuka Sho is.

Saying a horse is a Triple Crown winner really sinks in when you realize how completely different all races are from each other and how it means they’ve proved themselves in most conditions.

And hopefully you can see why I felt the need to take this year-long detour to explain this before I went to Winning Ticket’s chapter of the main story.

And if not, you’ll soon see why.