The is a Grade II race in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 that is open to international horses. It is held mid February at Kyoto Racecourse

Kyoto Racecourse

is located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is used for horse racing. It has a capacity of 120,000. It was built in 1999. It has 28,000 seats.-Physical attributes:Kyoto Race Course has two turf courses, a dirt course, and a jump course....

 in Kyoto, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

The race was first run in 1942. It was not run from 1944 to 1947 due to World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Initially the race was run over 3,500 metres (about 2 miles or 1.5 furlongs) and the present race is run over 2,200 metres (about 11 furlongs).

Kyōto Kinen has been rated as a Grade II race since 1984 and was opened for foreign trained horses at that time, although foreign horses have never run the race until recently.

It is a popular prep race for Tenno Sho (spring)

Tenno Sho

The Tennō Shō is a horse race held twice a year in Japan, once in the spring and once in the autumn. "Tenno" means "Emperor of Japan". The races are both International Grade I races. Prior to the 2007 races, both Tenno Sho races were Japanese domestic Grade I races.-Spring:The Spring Tenno Sho...

. Takeshiba O, Ten Point, Biwa Hayahide and T M Opera O

T M Opera O

T M Opera O was a Japanese thoroughbred racehorse, sired by Opera House, a son of Sadler's Wells, out of Once Wed, a daughter of Blushing Groom. T.M. Opera O was inducted into the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame in 2004.T.M. Opera O was the world's all-time leading money-earner...

 are horses that won both the Kyōto Kinen and the Tenno Sho. Some horses run this race before going to Dubai

Dubai

Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

. In 2007, Admire Moon

Admire Moon

is a Japanese racehorse who won the 2007 Dubai Duty Free Stakes, Takarazuka Kinen and Japan Cup.- GI Races :Admire Moon ran in the Satsuki Sho in 2006, his first Grade I race in his career. He placed 4th to Meisho Samson...

 won this race and the Dubai Duty Free

Dubai Duty Free

The Dubai Duty Free is a Group 1 flat horse race in the United Arab Emirates for four-year-old and above thoroughbreds run over a distance of 1,800 metres on the turf at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai during the Dubai World Cup Night in March....

.

Autumn part

Initially Kyōto Kinen was held twice a year in spring and autumn. The autumn race was abolished 1984 when Japanese domestic race grading was started.

Before the autumn part was abolished, some horses ran both races and five horses won both. Notably, Final Score (1954) and Sky Leader (1974) won both races in the same year.

List of recent winners

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
2000	T M Opera O T M Opera O T M Opera O was a Japanese thoroughbred racehorse, sired by Opera House, a son of Sadler's Wells, out of Once Wed, a daughter of Blushing Groom. T.M. Opera O was inducted into the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame in 2004.T.M. Opera O was the world's all-time leading money-earner...	4	Ryuji Wada	Ichizo Iwamoto	Masatsugu Takezono	2:13.8
2001	Maquereau	4	Yasuhiko Yasuda	Hiroyoshi Matsuda	Katsumi Yoshida	2:12.3
2002	Narita Top Road	6	Kunihiko Watanabe	Yoshio Oki	Hidenori Yamaji	2:11.8
2003	My Sole Sound	4	Masaru Honda	Katsuichi Nishiura	Kiyoshi Sano	2:16.5
2004	Silk Famous	5	Hirofumi Shii	Ippo Samejima	Silk Co. Ltd.	2:12.8
2005	Narita Century	6	Hirokazu Tajima	Kazuo Fujisawa Kazuo Fujisawa is a trainer of Thoroughbred race horses. He has been a licensed trainer in Japan since 1987 and since 1993 has won the training title eleven times....	Hidenori Yamaji	2:15.7
2006	Six Sense	4	Yutaka Take Yutaka Take is a Japanese jockey who is a multiple champion in his homeland and won the Japan Cup in 1999 on the horse Special Week...	Hiroyuki Nagahama Hiroyuki Nagahama is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan , a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet . A native of Tokyo and graduate of Waseda University, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1993 as a member of Morihiro Hosokawa's Japan New Party...	Shadai Race Horse	2:13.5
2007	Admire Moon Admire Moon is a Japanese racehorse who won the 2007 Dubai Duty Free Stakes, Takarazuka Kinen and Japan Cup.- GI Races :Admire Moon ran in the Satsuki Sho in 2006, his first Grade I race in his career. He placed 4th to Meisho Samson...	4	Yutaka Take Yutaka Take is a Japanese jockey who is a multiple champion in his homeland and won the Japan Cup in 1999 on the horse Special Week...	Hiroyoshi Matsuda	Riichi Kondou & Katsumi Yoshida	2:17.2
2008	Admire Aura	4	Katsumi Andou	Hiroyoshi Matsuda	Riichi Kondou	2:13.6
2009	Asakusa Kings	5	Hirofumi Shii	Ryuji Ookubo	Keiko Tahara	2:14.6

External links

• Horse Racing in Japan