The Yasuda Kinen (English: Yasuda Memorial, Japanese and Chinese language: 安田記念) is a Japanese International Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at the Tokyo Racecourse in Tokyo. Raced annually each June, the Yasuda Kinen is run at a distance of eight furlongs (one mile) on turf and is open to horses three years of age and up. The event was first run in 1951 as the Yasuda Sho (安田賞) in honor of , the founding chairman of the Japan Racing Association. Following Yasuda's death in 1958, the race name was changed to the Yasuda Kinen.

In 1984 the race was promoted to Grade 1 status and in 1993 it was granted International Grade 1 status. In 2005, the race became the final leg of the Asian Mile Challenge. In addition to the US$1 million first place purse, another US$1 million bonus is given to any horse who wins two legs of the four-race Asian Mile Challenge.

Past winners of the Yasuda Kinen include Oguri Cap and Taiki Shuttle, both Horse of the Year honorees in Japan in 1990 and 1998 respectively. The race has also been won by international horses such as the Godolphin 1995 winner Heart Lake, and Fairy King Prawn who in 2000 became the first Hong Kong-trained horse to ever win a Grade I race outside of Hong Kong. In 2006 another Hong Kong-based champion, Bullish Luck, won the race and earned the Asian Mile Challenge bonus money for winning both the Yasuda Kinen and the Champions Mile in Hong Kong. In 2024, Romantic Warrior, Hong Kong's undisputed middle-distance champion won the Yasuda Kinen.

Trial races Trial races provide automatic berths to the winning horses. RaceGradeRacecourseDistanceConditionYomiuri Milers CupGIIKyoto1,600 metresWinnerKeio Hai Spring CupGIITokyo1,400 metresWinner

Records Speed record: 1.30.9 – Indy Champ (2019)

Most wins by a horse (2): Songline (2022, 2023) Swee Sue (1952, 1953) Vodka (2008, 2009) Yamanin Zephyr (1992, 1993)

Most wins by a jockey (4): Yukio Okabe (1982, 1989, 1997, 1998) Yuga Kawada (2015, 2017, 2021, 2025) Yutaka Take (1990, 1995, 2009, 2026)

Most wins by a trainer (4): Ogata Tokichi (1951, 1953, 1955, 1973)

Most wins by an owner (3): Sunday Racing (2020, 2022, 2023)

Winners since 1984 Year Winner Age Jockey Trainer Owner Time 1984 Happy Progress 6 Seiki Tabara Shoji Yamamoto S. Fujita 1:37.8 1985 Nihon Pillow Winner 5 Hiroshi Kawachi Masatoshi Hattori Hyakutaro Kobayashi 1:35.1 1986 Gallop Dyna 6 Isamu Shibasaki Susumu Yano Shadai Race Horse 1:35.5 1987 Fresh Voice 4 Masato Shibata Naoyuki Sakai Kazuo Enjo 1:35.7 1988 Nippo Teio 5 Hiroyuki Gohara Fusamatsu Okubo Yuichi Yamaishi 1:34.2 1989 Bamboo Memory 4 Yukio Okabe Kunihiko Take Tatsuichi Takeda 1:34.3 1990 Oguri Cap 5 Yutaka Take Tsutomu Setoguchi Shunsuke Kondo 1:32.4 1991 Daiichi Ruby 4 Hiroshi Kawachi Yuji Ito Haruo Tsujimoto 1:33.8 1992 Yamanin Zephyr 4 Katsuharu Tanaka Hironori Kurita Hajime Doi 1:33.8 1993 Yamanin Zephyr 5 Yoshitomi Shibata Hironori Kurita Hajime Doi 1:33.5 1994 North Flight 4 Koichi Tsunoda Keiji Kato Taihoku Bokujo 1:33.2 1995 Heart Lake 4 Yutaka Take Saeed bin Suroor (UAE) Godolphin 1:33.2 1996 Trot Thunder 7 Norihiro Yokoyama Katsutoshi Aikawa Teruo Fujimoto 1:33.1 1997 Taiki Blizzard 6 Yukio Okabe Kazuo Fujisawa Taiki Farm Co. 1:33.8 1998 Taiki Shuttle 4 Yukio Okabe Kazuo Fujisawa Taiki Farm Co. 1:37.5 1999 Air Jihad 4 Masayoshi Ebina Masanori Ito Lucky Field Co. 1:33.3 2000 Fairy King Prawn 5 Robbie Fradd Ivan W. Allan (HK) Philip Lau Sak Hong 1:33.9 2001 Black Hawk 7 Norihiro Yokoyama Sakae Kunieda Makoto Kaneko 1:33.0 2002 Admire Cozzene 6 Hiroki Goto Mitsuru Hashida Riichi Kondo 1:33.3 2003 Agnes Digital 6 Hirofumi Shii Toshiaki Shirai Takao Watanabe 1:32.1 2004 Tsurumaru Boy 6 Katsumi Ando Kojiro Hashiguchi Takao Tsuruta 1:32.6 2005 Asakusa Den'en 6 Shinji Fujita Michifumi Kono Genichiro Tahara 1:32.3 2006 Bullish Luck 7 Brett Prebble Tony Cruz (HK) Wong Wing Keung 1:32.6 2007 Daiwa Major 6 Katsumi Ando Hiroyuki Uehara Keizo Oshiro 1:32.3 2008 Vodka 4 Yasunari Iwata Katsuhiko Sumii Yuzo Tanimizu 1:32.7 2009 Vodka 5 Yutaka Take Katsuhiko Sumii Yuzo Tanimizu 1:33.5 2010 Showa Modern 6 Hiroki Goto Hiroaki Sugiura Keiichi Yamagishi 1:31.7 2011 Real Impact 3 Keita Tosaki Noriyuki Hori Carrot Farm 1:32.0 2012 Strong Return 6 Yuichi Fukunaga Noriyuki Hori Teruya Yoshida 1:31.3 2013 Lord Kanaloa 5 Yasunari Iwata Takayuki Yasuda Lord Horse Club 1:31.5 2014 Just A Way 5 Yoshitomi Shibata Naosuke Sugai Akatsuki Yamatoya 1:36.8 2015 Maurice 4 Yuga Kawada Noriyuki Hori Kazumi Yoshida 1:32.0 2016 Logotype 6 Hironobu Tanabe Tsuyoshi Tanaka Teruya Yoshida 1:33.0 2017 Satono Aladdin 6 Yuga Kawada Yasutoshi Ikee Hajime Satomi 1:31.5 2018 Mozu Ascot 4 Christophe Lemaire Yoshito Yahagi Capital System 1:31.3 2019 Indy Champ 4 Yuichi Fukunaga Hidetaka Otonashi Silk Racing 1:30.9 2020 Gran Alegria 4 Kenichi Ikezoe Kazuo Fujisawa Sunday Racing 1:31.6 2021 Danon Kingly 5 Yuga Kawada Kiyoshi Hagiwara Danox Co Ltd 1:31.7 2022 Songline 4 Kenichi Ikezoe Toru Hayashi Sunday Racing 1:32.32023Songline5Keita TosakiToru HayashiSunday Racing1:31.42024Romantic Warrior6James McDonaldDanny Shum Chap-shing (HK)Peter Lau Pak Fai1:32.32025Jantar Mantar4Yuga KawadaTomokazu TakanoShadai Race Horse1:32.72026Sixpence5Yutaka TakeHiroyasu TanakaCarrot Farm1:32.1

Earlier winners

1951 - Issei 1952 - Swee Sue 1953 - Swee Sue 1954 - Fuso 1955 - Kuri Chikara 1956 - Yoshifusa 1957 - Hekiraku 1958 - Rhapsody 1959 - Hishi Masaru 1960 - Onward Bell 1961 - Homareboshi 1962 - Tokon 1963 - Yamano O 1964 - Shimofusa Homare 1965 - Panasonic 1966 - Hishi Masahide 1967 - Buchan 1968 - Shesquay 1969 - Hard Way 1970 - Mejiro Asama 1971 - Harbor Game 1972 - Rafale 1973 - Haku Hosho 1974 - Kyoei Green 1975 - Sakura Iwai 1976 - Nishiki Ace 1977 - Squash Tholon 1978 - Nippo King 1979 - Royal Shinzan 1980 - Blue Hallez 1981 - Takeden 1982 - Sweet Native 1983 - Kiyo Hidaka

See also Horse racing in Japan List of Japanese flat horse races

References Netkeiba: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Racing Post: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

External links Horse Racing in Japan