I would like to interrupt the current series of posts (and unintentional hiatus) to provide important context for the next one in that batch.
Uma Musume reveals how everything in the sport has a certain character to itself, from horses to trainers to jockeys. But what many don’t realize from the outset is that even races and racecourses have a character to themselves.
Think for example about the Arima Kinen, where young horses go prove their worth and veteran horses go retire, or the Autumn Tenno Sho where at least one death has taken place in the midst of a race. Hell, one of the things that made Vodka so notable was her proficiency at running on the Tokyo Racecourse specifically.
So today I want to talk about the most famous set of three races in Japanese horseracing: The Triple Crown.
If you wanna be pedantic, it’s the “Classic Triple Crown” or even the “Central Circuit Classic Triple Crown”… in fact let’s be extra pedantic and take it from the top.
The term “Triple Crown” is said to have been used first in the United States to describe the victory of Gallant Fox on what is now called the American Triple Crown: Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. The article in question by Charles Hatton in 1930 compares Gallant Fox to the British horse West Australian.
That said, there’s also sources that claim the term was first used in 1923 in the US but uses in other publications around the globe date back to as early as 1886.
Here’s the interesting thing: In Japan there wasn’t a “Triple Crown” originally, rather, thay had the “Eight great races” (八大競走 Hachidaikyousou).These were composed of the “Five great races” or “Five Great Classics”: Ouka Sho, Satsuki Sho, Tokyo Yushun (AKA Nihon Derby), Yushun Himba (AKA Oaks), and Kikuka Sho. PLUS Spring and Autumn Tenno Sho, and Arima Kinen. Before 1984 these eight were considered the most prestigious races.
What happened after Literally 1984? That’s when the Grading System got introduced, where a race was either G1 to G3 to open to ungraded and such. That’s when the measure of what made a race prestigious was more tangible (it should be noted that all eight aforementioned races remained G1s though).
The term “Triple Crown” is thus actually more of a generic label for a trio of important races. They’re often grouped together with a monetary incentive to promote interest in the races and by extension the racecourses. As such there’s actually quite a few of Triple Crowns that make the term “Central Circuit Classic CTriple Crown” less pedantic and more necessary.
Here’s some examples:
The Triple Crown for fillies (often called “Triple Tiara” instead) of Ouka Sho, Oaks (notice that these two were part of the Five Great Classics), and Shuuka Sho.
Shuka Sho was created in 1996, but before that the Triple Tiara had existed since 1970. The last spot was filled by the Victoria Cup until 1975. and by the Queen Elizabeth II Cup until 1996.
Mejiro Ramone was the only one to win it while the Queen Elizabeth II Cup was part of the rotation in 1986. Moreover, those that have played the game in stories like Sweepy’s, Kawakami’s or Scarlet’s, will probably have more context now why the Queen Elizabeth II Cup is given similar weight to the rest ot the Tiara rotation.
The Three year old Dirt Triple Crown of Haneda Cup, Tokyo Derby, and Japan Dirt Classic. It has existed since at least 2002 as the “Southern Kanto Three Year old Triple Crown”. This hasn’t had any major winners, but it’s a Triple Crown meant to promote smaller races and has shifted a lot over the years, meaning there’s not been enough consistency for enough time for someone to claim the prize.
The Hokkaido Triple Crown (that existed since 1980) of Hokuto Hai, Hokkai Yushun, and Oukan Sho.
Ban’ei has the two year old Triple Crown of Nanakamado Sho, Young Championship, and Irene Kinen. Three year old Triple Crown of Ban’ei Daishouten, Ban’ei Kikuka Sho, and Ban’ei Derby. And the Ban’ei four year old triple crown of Hakurin Sho, Ginga Sho, and Tenma Sho.
Two small sidenotes: “Ban’ei” (輓曳) is a different type of horseracing where the horse pulls a sled and is more of a display of workhorse strength and jockey technique on top of speed. Moreover the “Irene” in “Irene Kinen” is the name of a horse that was considered FOUNDATIONAL in modern Ban’ei but I’m getting too distracted.
Oh by the way, I tend to use Google TL to complement my still rough Japanese but I often check the original text for names before I write them down. That’s because there’s cases like with the Nanakamado Sho where it gets translated by google as “Rowan Prize” because “Nanakamado” is the name of the flower also known as Japanese Rowan.
ANYWAY…
Iwate has a two year old Triple Crown (Wakakoma Sho, Nanbukoma Sho, and Kinpai) and a three year old Triple Crown with quite the changes to its roster.
Through all of its iterations it has featured the Diamond Cup and Kozukata Sho, but the last spot has changed over the years. From 2007 to 2009 the Akuriguro Sho came before both, but the Derby Grand Prix which had been suspended was revived in 2010. So from 2010 to 2018 it was: Diamond Cup, then Kozukata Sho and then Derby Grand Prix. But in 2019 the Tohoku Yushun came back to being held in the Mizusawa Racecourse after 16 years so the current iteration as of now is: Diamond Cup, then Tohoku Yushun, and then Kozukata Sho.
They also have their own Triple Tiara consisting of Rusuhai Hidaka Sho, Himawari Sho, and ORO Autumn Tiara (note that Autumn here is in english with katakana, オータム… also no I couldn’t find what ORO means but I assume it’s related to the broadcasting company it’s associated with).
The Southern Kanto Triple Tiara has existed since 1987 and consists of the Ouka Sho (Often called Urawa Ouka Sho to differentiate it from the central circuit one), Tokyo Princess Sho, and Kanto Oaks.
Yes, the Yushun Himba, AKA the Oaks is in Tokyo which is in Kanto, don’t think too hard about it.
Kanazawa has held a Triple Crown since 1993. It was originally composed of the Kitanippon Shinbun Hai, Thoroughbred Challenge Cup, and Thoroughbred Daishouten. But in 2005 the Thoroughbred Challenge Cup was replaced with the MRO Kinshou (MRO is from the Hokuriku Broadcasting Company).
Moreover, in 2017 the Ishikawa Yushun was added to make it a quadruple crown. And if any fillies win the Kaga Yuzen Sho on top of those they’d have a quintuple crown.
The Tokai Triple Crown (no relation with Tokai Teio) has been held since 1977 and is composed of the Shuntei Sho, Tokai Yushun, and Gifu Kinsho.
Now, there’s a bit of overlap here. The Tokai Triple Crown encompasses both Nagoya and Kasamatsu (name that should be familiar to those reading Cinderella Gray). And the Gifu Kinsho is the only one held in Kasamatsu. If you win the races above you have won the Tokai Triple Crown, but since 2015 if you won the first two AND the Aki Nokura, then you won the Nagoya Triple Crown instead.
Hyogo (the prefecture where Kobe is at) started holding a Triple Crown of their own in the year 2000. Though mainly held at the Sonoda racecourse, thee of them were held in the Himeji racecourse instead.
When it started in the year 2000 the races were Kikusui Sho, Hyogo Yushun, and Rokko Hai. Then, from 2001 until 2023 the races were: Kikusui Sho (the 2001 one was held in Himeji), Hyogo Championship, and Hyogo Yushun, which was originally called Sonoda Derby from 2000 to 2005 and then Hyogo Derby from 2006 to 2023. The Hyogo Derby was held in Himeji in 2009 and 2010.
The current iteration has been changed in order to be built as the national stage for dirt runners starting in 2024 and it’s composed of the Kikusui Sho, Hyogo Yushun, and Sonoda Autumn Trophy.
Kochi has had its own Triple Crown since 1997 composed of the Kuroshio Satsuki Sho, Kochi Yushun, and Kuroshio Kikuka Sho.
If the name Kochi sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because it’s where Haru Urara hails from.
Saga (of Zombieland Saga fame) has a triple crown for three year olds currently composed of the Saga Satsuki Sho, Eijo Sho, and Lotus Crown Sho.
Until 2011 the first two races were instead the Arao Derby and Kyushu Derby Eijo Sho. Meanwhile, between 2012 and 2017 the first slot was occupied by the Hien Sho.
There is also the “Autumn Senior Triple Crown” (which isn’t an official name but the name given to the achievement by website JRA-VAN). It’s composed of the races at the tail end of the year and despite the name they’re open to horses both in Classic AND Senior class. It’s composed of the Autumn Tenno Sho, Japan Cup, and Arima Kinen.
It’s a more difficult title to achieve, in fact, the only two horses to ever achieve it have been TM Opera O and Zenno Rob Roy. Special Week ALMOST won it too and would’ve been the first one ever with that title but lost the Arima Kinen to Grass Wonder.
There’s also a spring equivalent of it that is actually limited to Senior horses. It’s composed of the Osaka Hai, Spring Tenno Sho, and Takarazuka Kinen.
Iwate has an equivalent with the Shian Mor Kinen (in honor of the horse Shian Mor), Michinoku Daishoten (Full name: Ichijo Kinen Michinoku Daishoten, in honor of Ichijo Tomoyoshi who contributed a lot to the local racing scene), and Touka Sho (Often called “Iwate’s Arima Kinen” from how participation is decided via voting).
And I haven’t even talked about the actual Triple Crown I intended to talk about to begin with…
Let’s leave that for next time.