| Surface: | Turf |
| Class: | Grade 1 |
| Horse Race: | Tōkyō Yūshun Japanese Derby 東京優駿 日本ダービー |
| Location: | Tokyo Racecourse, Fuchū, Tokyo |
| Inaugurated: | 1932 |
| Race Type: | Thoroughbred Flat racing |
| Distance: | 2400 meters |
| Track: | Left-handed |
| Qualification: | 3-y-o, Colts & Fillies |
| Weight: | Colt 57 kg, Filly 55 kg |
| Purse: | [1] |
| Bonuses: | Classic Triple Crown Winner of Satsuki Shō, Tokyo Yūshun, Kikuka Shō[2] ¥ 300,000,000 |
The, also called the is a Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan for three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies run over a distance of 2,400 metres (approximately 1 mile 4 furlongs) at the Tokyo Racecourse, Fuchū, Tokyo in late May or early June.
It was first run in 1932 and is the Japanese equivalent of the English Epsom Derby. It is the second leg of the Japanese Triple Crown, preceded by the Satsuki Shō (the Japanese equivalent of the English 2,000 Guineas) in mid-late April and followed by the Kikuka Shō (the Japanese equivalent of the English St. Leger Stakes) in mid-late October.
Since 2010, the Tokyo Yūshun (along with several other JRA Japanese domestic Grade 1 races, including the other Japanese classics such as the Satsuki Shō and the Kikuka Shō) is open to international competition due to Japan's inclusion in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities' ICS Part I category, in which all graded black-type races in the JRA calendar are open to international competition. Races prior to 2001 (along with the other Japanese classics) were only limited to Japanese-bred horses. Since 2001, foreign-bred horses are allowed, but until 2010 this race (and the other classics) were only limited to Japanese-trained horses. Since 2010, up to 9 foreign-trained or bred horses can enter the race.[3]
| !Race name | Grade | Racecourse | Distance | Priority-entry-rights to Derby | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Satsuki Shō | GI | Nakayama | Turf 2000m | Yes (top 5) | |
| 2 | Aoba Sho | GII | Tokyo | Turf 2400m | Yes (top 2) | |
| 3 | Principal Stakes | Listed | Tokyo | Turf 2000m | Yes (winner) | |
| 4 | Kyoto Shimbun Hai | GII | Kyoto | Turf 2200m | Yes (top 2 horses if registered in NAR) | |
| 5 | NHK Mile Cup | GI | Tokyo | Turf 1600m | Yes (top 2 horses if registered in NAR) |
If horses from the National Association of Racing win any 3-year-old JRA Grade 2 or 3 races before the Derby, they will be eligible to enter the Japanese Derby if ranked high enough in prize money. Kyoto Shimbun Hai and NHK Mile Cup provides priority-entry-rights if these horses place first or second.[4]
The Satsuki Shō, the Aoba Shō and the Principal Stakes are the official trial races for the Japanese Derby. The top five finishers in the Satsuki Shō, the top two finishers in the Aoba Shō and the winner of the Principal Stakes are guaranteed a place in the field for the Derby, regardless of prize money. Overall, there are seven automatic qualifying spots in the Derby; the other 10 entries are "at-large" horses determined by prize money earned prior to racing in the Derby. The Kyoto Shimbun Hai is officially considered a step race and only gives priority-entry-rights to horses registered in NAR. The NHK Mile Cup, the only non-Triple Crown three-year-old GI horse race, is also a step race but only provides priority-entry-rights to horses registered in NAR, has gained importance in recent years as horses such as Tanino Gimlet (2002), King Kamehameha (2004, won) and Deep Sky (2008, won) participated in that race and would eventually win the Derby.
| Year | Winner | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Ines Fujin | Eiji Nakano | Shuho Kato | Masaaki Kobayashi | 2:25.3 | |
| 1991 | Tokai Teio | Takayuki Yasuda | Shouichi Matsumoto | Masanori Uchimura | 2:25.9 | |
| 1992 | Mihono Bourbon | Sadahiro Kojima | Tameo Toyama | Mihono International | 2:27.8 | |
| 1993 | Winning Ticket | Masato Shibata | Yuji Ito | Yosimi Ota | 2:25.5 | |
| 1994 | Narita Brian | Katsumi Minai | Masaaki Okubo | Hidenori Yamaji | 2:25.7 | |
| 1995 | Tayasu Tsuyoshi | Shinji Kojima | Akio Tsurudome | Kanichi Yokose | 2:27.3 | |
| 1996 | Fusaichi Concorde | Shinji Fujita | Minoru Kobayashi | Fusao Sekiguchi | 2:26.1 | |
| 1997 | Sunny Brian | Naohiro Onishi | Senji Nakao | Moriyasu Miyazaki | 2:25.9 | |
| 1998 | Special Week | Yutaka Take | Toshiaki Shirai | Hiroyoshi Usuda | 2:25.8 | |
| 1999 | Admire Vega | Yutaka Take | Mitsuru Hashida | Riichi Kondo | 2:25.3 | |
| 2000 | Agnes Flight | Hiroshi Kawachi | Hiroyuki Nagahama | Takao Watanabe | 2:26.2 | |
| 2001 | Jungle Pocket | Koichi Tsunoda | Sakae Watanabe | Yomoji Saito | 2:27.0 | |
| 2002 | Tanino Gimlet | Yutaka Take | Kunihide Matsuda | Yuzo Tanimizu | 2:26.2 | |
| 2003 | Neo Universe | Mirco Demuro | Tsutomu Setoguchi | Shadai Race Horse | 2:28.5 | |
| 2004 | King Kamehameha | Katsumi Ando | Kunihide Matsuda | Makoto Kaneko | 2:23.3 | |
| 2005 | Deep Impact | Yutaka Take | Yasuo Ikee | Makoto Kaneko | 2:23.3 | |
| 2006 | Meisho Samson | Mamoru Ishibashi | Tsutomu Setoguchi | Yoshio Matsumoto | 2:27.9 | |
| 2007 | Vodka | Hirofumi Shii | Katsuhiko Sumii | Yuzo Tanimizu | 2:24.5 | |
| 2008 | Deep Sky | Hirofumi Shii | Mitsugu Kon | Toshio Fukami | 2:26.7 | |
| 2009 | Logi Universe | Norihiro Yokoyama | Kiyoshi Hagawara | Masaaki Kumeta | 2:33.7 | |
| 2010 | Eishin Flash | Hiroyuki Uchida | Hideaki Fujiwara | Tomomitsu Hirai | 2:26.9 | |
| 2011 | Orfevre | Kenichi Ikezoe | Yasutoshi Ikee | Sunday Racing | 2:30.5 | |
| 2012 | Deep Brillante | Yasunari Iwata | Yoshito Yahagi | Sunday Racing | 2:23.8 | |
| 2013 | Kizuna | Yutaka Take | Shozo Sasaki | Shinji Maeda | 2:24.3 | |
| 2014 | One And Only | Norihiro Yokoyama | Kojiro Hashiguchi | Koji Maeda | 2:24.6 | |
| 2015 | Duramente | Mirco Demuro | Noriyuki Hori | Sunday Racing | 2:23.2 | |
| 2016 | Makahiki | Yuga Kawada | Yasuo Tomomichi | Makoto Kaneko | 2:24.0 | |
| 2017 | Rey de Oro | Christophe Lemaire | Kazuo Fujisawa | U Carrot Farm | 2:26.9 | |
| 2018 | Wagnerian | Yuichi Fukunaga | Yasuo Tomomichi | Makoto Kaneko | 2:23.6 | |
| 2019 | Roger Barows | Suguru Hamanaka | Katsuhiko Sumii | Hirotsugu Inokuma | 2:22.6 | |
| 2020 | Contrail | Yuichi Fukunaga | Yoshito Yahagi | Shinji Maeda | 2:24.1 | |
| 2021 | Shahryar | Yuichi Fukunaga | Hideaki Fujiwara | Sunday Racing | 2:22.5 | |
| 2022 | Do Deuce | Yutaka Take | Yasuo Tomomichi | Kieffers Co Ltd | 2:21.9 | |
| 2023 | Tastiera | Damian Lane | Noriyuki Hori | U Carrot Farm | 2:25.2 | |
| 2024 | Danon Decile | Norihiro Yokoyama | Shogo Yasuda | Danox Co. Ltd. | 2:24.3 |