Unicorn Stakes
 I Am Actress wins the 2011 Unicorn Stakes | |
| Class | Grade 3 |
|---|---|
| Location | Kyoto Racecourse |
| Inaugurated | 1996 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred Flat racing |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1,900 meters |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Track | Right-handed |
| Qualification | 3-y-o |
| Weight | 57 kg Allowance: Fillies 2 kg |
| Purse | ¥ 79,920,000 (as of 2025) 1st: ¥ 37,000,000 2nd: ¥ 15,000,000 3rd: ¥ 9,000,000 |
The Unicorn Stakes (Japanese ユニコーンステークス) is a Grade 3 horse race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run in Japan in April over a distance of 1,900 metres on dirt at Kyoto Racecourse.[1]
The race was first run in 1996 and has held Grade 3 status ever since. The race was run over 1,800 meters at Nakayama Racecourse in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 before being moved to Tokyo Racecourse in 2001 until 2023 and was run over 1,600 meters. The race was permanently moved to Kyoto Racecourse in 2024, and the distance was also increased to 1,900 meters.[2] The schedule was also moved from June to late April, positioned as a preparatory race for the Tokyo Derby, which is run in June and for which the Unicorn Stakes winner receives a guaranteed spot.[3]
Past winners of the race have included Taiki Shuttle, Agnes Digital and Kane Hekili.
Records
[edit]Record time:
- 1:58.6 - Ramjet 2024, at a distance of 1,900 meters
- 1:34.9 - Cafe Pharoah 2020, at a distance of 1,600 meters
Most wins by a jockey:
- 2 - Yukio Okabe 1996, 1997
- 2 - Katsumi Ando 2003, 2008
- 2 - Yutaka Take 2005, 2007
- 2 - Yuichi Fukunaga 2012, 2019
Most wins by a trainer:
- 2 - Sei Ishizaka 2001, 2013
- 2 - Katsuhiko Sumii 2005, 2019
- 2 - Noriyuki Hori 2012, 2020
Winners
[edit]| Year |
Winner |
Jockey |
Trainer |
Owner | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Shinko Windy | Yukio Okabe | Kiyotaka Tanaka | Osamu Yasuda | 1:52.8 |
| 1997 | Taiki Shuttle | Yukio Okabe | Kazuo Fujisawa | Taiki Farm | 1:36.8 |
| 1998 | Wing Arrow | Katsumi Minai | Yoshimi Kudo | Minoru Ikeda | 1:52.0 |
| 1999 | Gold Tiara[a] | Katsuharu Tanaka | Kunihide Matsuda | Kazuko Yoshida | 1:52.6 |
| 2000 | Agnes Digital | Hitoshi Matoba | Toshiaki Shirai | Takao Watanabe | 1:50.7 |
| 2001 | Nasdaq Power | Teruo Eda | Sei Ishizawa | Fushio Sukimoto | 1:36.4 |
| 2002 | Himitsu Heiki | Seiji Sakai | Mitsuhiro Okabayashi | Harumi Tanaka | 1:36.4 |
| 2003 | Utopia | Katsumi Ando | Kojiro Hashiguchi | Makoto Kaneko | 1:35.8 |
| 2004 | Top of World | Hirofumi Shii | Kenichi Fujioka | Isao Ogawa | 1:36.0 |
| 2005 | Kane Hekili | Yutaka Take | Katsuhiko Sumii | Makoto Kaneko | 1:36.5 |
| 2006 | Nike Earthwork | Norihiro Yokoyama | Masayuki Kawashima | Seiji Ono | 1:37.2 |
| 2007 | Long Pride | Yutaka Take | Yukiharu Ono | Toshio Nakai | 1:36.9 |
| 2008 | Ubiquitous | Katsumi Ando | Nobuhiro Suzuki | Seiichi Iketani | 1:35.1 |
| 2009 | Silk Mobius | Hiroyasu Tanaka | Masazo Ryoke | Silk | 1:35.5 |
| 2010 | Birdie Birdie | Masami Matsuoka | Yasutoshi Ikee | Koichi Hori | 1:36.6 |
| 2011 | I Am Actress[a] | Shinichiro Akiyama | Hiroshi Nagahama | Mihoko Satomi | 1:36.2 |
| 2012 | Straw Hat | Yuichi Fukunaga | Noriyuki Hori | Kaneko Makoto Holdings | 1:36.5 |
| 2013 | Best Warrior | Keita Tosaki | Sei Ishizaka | Yukio Baba | 1:36.0 |
| 2014 | Red Alvis | Masayoshi Ebina | Takayuki Yasuda | Tokyo Horse Racing | 1:36.0 |
| 2015 | Nonkono Yume | Christophe Lemaire | Yukihiro Kato | Kazumasa Yamada | 1:35.9 |
| 2016 | Gold Dream | Yuga Kawada | Osamu Hirata | Katsumi Yoshida | 1:35.8[4] |
| 2017 | Sunrise Nova | Keita Tosaki | Hidetaka Otonashi | Takao Matsuoka | 1:35.9[5] |
| 2018 | Le Vent Se Leve | Mirco Demuro | Kiyoshi Hagiwara | G1 Racing | 1:35.0[6] |
| 2019 | Wide Pharaoh | Yuichi Fukunaga | Katsuhiko Sumii | Masanobu Habata | 1:35.5 |
| 2020 | Cafe Pharoah | Damian Lane | Noriyuki Hori | Koichi Nishikawa | 1:34.9 |
| 2021 | Smasher | Ryusei Sakai | Tatsuya Yoshioka | Hidaka Breeders Union | 1:34.4 |
| 2022 | Peisha Es | Akira Sugawara | Kazuo Konishi | Naoto Kitajo | 1:35.2 |
| 2023 | Perriere | Christophe Lemaire | Mitsumasa Nakauchida | Yuji Hasegawa | 1:35.0 |
| 2024 | Ramjet | Kousei Miura | Shozo Sasaki | Koji Maeda | 1:58.6 |
| 2025 | Canal Beagle | Seinosuke Yoshimura | Yuta Sato | U Carrot Farm | 1:56.8 |
a Gold Tiara and I Am Actress were fillies
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Unicorn Stakes". Horse Racing in Japan.
- ^ "2024 JRA Racing Calendar changes" (PDF). JRA.
- ^ "３歳ダート３冠レース体系発表 24年からスタート すべてにトライアルレースを設定". Nikkan Sports.
- ^ "2016 result". Racing Post. 19 June 2016.
- ^ "2017 result". Racing Post. 18 June 2017.
- ^ "2018 result". Racing Post. 17 June 2018.
- ^ "ユニコーンS". Netkeiba.
- ^ "Unicorn Stakes". Netkeiba.