The Tennō Shō is a horse race held twice a year 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...

, once in the spring and once in the autumn. "Tenno" means "Emperor of Japan

Emperor of Japan

The Emperor of Japan is, according to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." He is a ceremonial figurehead under a form of constitutional monarchy and is head of the Japanese Imperial Family with functions as head of state. He is also the highest...

". 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 is held 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 late April or early May. It is run over a distance of 3200 metres (10,498.7 ft), making it the longest Grade I race in Japan.

Deep Impact won the 2006 version of the race setting the world record for a 3200 metre race with a time of 3:13.4. beating the Melbourne Cup

Melbourne Cup

The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...

 record of 3:16.3.

Winners since 1990

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
1990	Super Creek	5	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...	Syuuzi Itou	Makoto Kaneko Makoto Kaneko is the President, CEO and Representative Director of Zuken Inc., a public listed multinational corporation in the Tokyo Stock Exchange.Makoto Kaneko is better known as a prominent horse owner in Japan...	3:21.9
1991	Mejiro McQueen Mejiro McQueen Mejiro McQueen was a Japanese thoroughbred racehorse, sired by Mejiro Titan, a son of Mejiro Asama, out of Mejiro Aurora, a daughter of Remand. Mejiro McQueen was inducted into the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame in 1994.- Racing career :Major Racing Wins* 1990 Kikuka Sho Mejiro McQueen...	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...	Yasuo Ikee	Mejiro Stud	3:18.8
1992	Mejiro McQueen Mejiro McQueen Mejiro McQueen was a Japanese thoroughbred racehorse, sired by Mejiro Titan, a son of Mejiro Asama, out of Mejiro Aurora, a daughter of Remand. Mejiro McQueen was inducted into the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame in 1994.- Racing career :Major Racing Wins* 1990 Kikuka Sho Mejiro McQueen...	5	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...	Yasuo Ikee	Mejiro Stud	3:20.0
1993	Rice Shower	4	Hitoshi Matoba	Yoshitsugu Iizuka	Hide Kurabayashi	3:17.1
1994	Biwa Hayahide	4	Yukio Okabe	Mitsumasa Hamada	Biwa Co Ltd	3:22.6
1995	Rice Shower	6	Hitoshi Matoba	Yoshitsugu Iizuka	Hide Kurabayashi	3:19.9
1996	Sakura Laurel	5	Norihiro Yokoyama	Katsutarou Sakai	Sakura Commerce	3:17.8
1997	Mayano Top Gun Mayano Top Gun Mayano Top Gun（マヤノトップガン, March 24, 1992 - ） was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. He was sired by Brian's Time with the dam Alp Me Please . In 1995, he was awarded the JRA Award Horse of the Year and Best Three-year-old Colt....	5	Shigeru Tahara	Masahiro Sakaguchi	Yuu Takodoro	3:14.4
1998	Mejiro Bright	4	Hiroshi Kawachi	Hidekazu Asami	Mejiro Stud	3:15.3
1999	Special Week	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...	Toshiaki Shirai	Hiroyoshi Usuda	3:17.1
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	3:17.6
2001	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...	5	Ryuji Wada	Ichizo Iwamoto	Masatsugu Takezono	3:16.2
2002	Manhattan Cafe	4	Masayoshi Ebina Masayoshi Ebina is a Japanese jockey. Nicknamed Ebi-Shō.He is best known for riding El Condor Pasa.That won the Japan Cup and second in Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe .In 2010 he won the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown with Apapane....	Futoshi Kojima	Ken Nishikawa	3:19.5
2003	Hishi Miracle	4	Koichi Tsunoda	Masaru Sayama	Masaichiro Abe	3:17.0
2004	Ingrandire	5	Norihiro Yokoyama	Yoshinami Shimizu	Keiji Nagai	3:18.4
2005	Suzuka Mambo	4	Katsumi Ando	Mitsuru Hashida	Keiji Nagai	3:16.5
2006	Deep Impact	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...	Yasuo Ikee	Makoto Kaneko Makoto Kaneko is the President, CEO and Representative Director of Zuken Inc., a public listed multinational corporation in the Tokyo Stock Exchange.Makoto Kaneko is better known as a prominent horse owner in Japan...	3:13.4
2007	Meisho Samson Meisho Samson Meisho Samson is a Japanese racehorse which won the 2006 Tokyo Yūshun and Satsuki Sho....	4	Mamoru Ishibashi	Shigetada Takahashi	Yoshio Matsumoto	3:14.1
2008	Admire Jupiter	5	Yasunari Iwata Yasunari Iwata is a Japanese jockey who rode the winner of the 2006 Melbourne Cup, Delta Blues. It was Iwata's first race outside of Japan.In 2005, Iwata won the 19th World Super Jockey Series .-Major wins: Australia...	Y Tomomichi	Riichi Kondo	3:15.1
2009	Meiner Kitz	6	Masami Matsuoka	Sakae Kunieda	Ruffian Thoroughbred Club	3:14.4
2010	Jaguar Mail	6	Craig Williams Craig Williams Craig Williams may refer to:* Human Tornado, real name Craig Williams, professional wrestler* Craig Williams , Namibian cricketer* Craig Williams , Australian rules footballer...	Noriyuki Hori	Ken Yoshida	3:15.7
2011	Hiruno d'Amour	4	Shinji Fujita	Mitsugu Kon	Hashimoto Bokujo	3:20.6

Autumn

The Autumn Tenno Sho is held at Tokyo Racecourse

Tokyo Racecourse

is located in Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan. Built in 1933 for horse racing, it is considered the "racecourse of racecourses" in Japanese horseracing. It has 13,750 seats, with a capacity of 223,000....

, in late October. It is run over a distance of 2000 metres (6,561.7 ft). It is considered the first leg of the Japanese Autumn Triple Crown (the other two are the Japan Cup

Japan Cup

The is the most prestigious horse race run in Japan. It is contested at the end of November at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters over the grass. With a purse of ¥476 million , the Japan Cup is one of the richest races in the world.The Japan Cup is an invitational event...

 and the Arima Kinen

Arima Kinen

The Arima Kinen is a Grade I flat horse race in Japan open to Thoroughbreds which are three-years-old or above. It is run over a distance of 2,500 metres at Nakayama Racecourse, and it takes place annually in late December...

).

Originally, the Autumn Tenno Sho was run over a distance of 3200 metres (10,498.7 ft), but was shortened to its current distance to promote middle-distance horses and to promote 3-year-old horses as a shorter-distance alternative to the Kikuka Sho

Kikuka Sho

The is a Japanese Domestic Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan for three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies run over a distance of 3,000 metres at the Kyoto Racecourse, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture in October....

, the Japanese St. Leger, which is 3000 metres (9,842.5 ft).

Winners since 1990

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
1990	Yaeno Muteki	5	Yukio Okabe	Mitsuo Ogino	Fuji Co	1:58.2
1991	Prekrasnie	4	Teruo Eda	Terumaso Yano	Tazima Nirou Sakai	2:03.9
1992	Let's Go Tarquin	5	Akikasu Osaki	K Hashiguchi	Diners Club Japan	1:58.6
1993	Yamanin Zephyr	4	Masao Shibata	Hiromu Kurita	Tadashi Doi	1:58.9
1994	Nehai Caesar	4	Shiomura Katsumi	Akira Huse	Daimaru Enterprise Daimaru is a Japanese department stores chain, principally located in the Kansai region of Japan. The chain is operated by Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores, a subsidiary of J. Front Retailing...	1:58.6
1995	Sakure Chitose O	5	Hutoshi Kozima	Katsutarao Sakai	Sakura Commerce	1:58.8
1996	Bubble Gum Fellow	3	Masayoshi Ebina Masayoshi Ebina is a Japanese jockey. Nicknamed Ebi-Shō.He is best known for riding El Condor Pasa.That won the Japan Cup and second in Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe .In 2010 he won the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown with Apapane....	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....	Shadai Racehorse	1:58.7
1997	Air Groove	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...	Yasunori Ito	Lucky Field Co Ltd	1:59.0
1998	Offside Trap	7	Yoshitomi Shibata Yoshitomi Shibata is a Japanese jockey .Shibata has had a successful career, winning many Japanese races multiple times.He was Eastern Japan champion jockey in 2002, 2003 and 2004.-Career wins in Japan:- Major wins : Japan...	Shuho Kato	Takao Watanabe Takao Watanabe is a Japanese politician of the New Komeito Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet . A native of Ishioka, Ibaraki and graduate of Tohoku University, he was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time in 1995....	1:59.3
1999	Special Week	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...	Toshiaki Shirai	Hiroyoshi Usuda	1:58.0
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	1:59.9
2001	Agnes Digital	4	Hirofumi Shii	Toshiaki Shirai	Takao Watanabe Takao Watanabe is a Japanese politician of the New Komeito Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet . A native of Ishioka, Ibaraki and graduate of Tohoku University, he was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time in 1995....	2:02.0
2002	Symboli Kris S Symboli Kris S Symboli Kris S is a retired Japanese Thoroughbred race horse. He was voted Japanese Horse of the Year in 2002 and 2003. He was retired at the end of 2003 and was syndicated for $15-million. He stands at stud at Shadai Stallion Station on the island of Hokkaido in Japan.-References:**...	3	Yukio Okabe	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....	Symboli Stud	1:58.5
2003	Symboli Kris S Symboli Kris S Symboli Kris S is a retired Japanese Thoroughbred race horse. He was voted Japanese Horse of the Year in 2002 and 2003. He was retired at the end of 2003 and was syndicated for $15-million. He stands at stud at Shadai Stallion Station on the island of Hokkaido in Japan.-References:**...	4	Olivier Peslier Olivier Peslier Olivier Peslier is a thoroughbred horse racing jockey.Peslier competes in flat racing mainly in France but travels often around the world for the big international races....	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....	Symboli Stud	1:58.0
2004	Zenno Rob Roy	4	Olivier Peslier Olivier Peslier Olivier Peslier is a thoroughbred horse racing jockey.Peslier competes in flat racing mainly in France but travels often around the world for the big international races....	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....	Shinobu Oohasa	1:58.9
2005	Heavenly Romance	5	Mikio Matsunaga	Masashi Yamamoto	Nosohiruzu Management	2:00.1
2006	Daiwa Major	5	Katsumi Ando	Hiroyuki Uehara	Keizou Ooshiro	1:58.8
2007	Meisho Samson Meisho Samson Meisho Samson is a Japanese racehorse which won the 2006 Tokyo Yūshun and Satsuki Sho....	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...	Shigetada Takahashi	Yoshio Matsumoto	1:58.4
2008	Vodka Vodka (horse) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racemare that won the 2007 Group One Tokyo Yūshun , the first filly to win this race in 64 years, as well as winning the 2009 Japan Cup. She won seven G1 races in Japan and is the highest earning racemare in Thoroughbred history.-Breeding:Vodka was foaled on 4 April 2004...	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...	Katsuhiko Sumii Katsuhiko Sumii is a Japanese horse trainer.He trained the first and second placing horses in the 2006 Melbourne Cup, Delta Blues and Pop Rock.- Famous Horses :* Delta Blues - Won Melbourne Cup , Kikuka Sho (born March 28, 1964, Kanazawa, Ishikawa) is a Japanese horse trainer.He trained the first and second...	Yuzo Tanimizu	1:57.2
2009	Company	8	Norihiro Yokoyama	Hidetaka Otonashi	Eiko Kondou	1:57.2
2010	Buena Vista Buena Vista Buena Vista, meaning "good view" in Spanish, may refer to:*Buena Vista , a Walt Disney trademark*Buena Vista Social Club , a Cuban music club plus an album and film inspired by the club...	4	Christophe Soumillon Christophe Soumillon Christophe Soumillon is a Belgian Thoroughbred horse racing jockey.-Career:Raised in a horse racing family, he is the son of a horse jumping jockey Jean-Marc Soumillon. Christophe Soumillon apprenticed at Chantilly Racecourse in Chantilly, France to Cédric Boutin, and won his first race in...	Hiroshi Matsuda	Sunday Racing Co Ltd	1:58.2
2011	Tosen Jordan	5	Nicola Pinna	Yasutoshi Ikee	Takaya Shimakawa	1:56.1