American Jockey Club Cup

American Jockey Club Cup
アメリカジョッキークラブカップ
34th American Jockey Club Cup (White Stone)
ClassGrade 2
LocationNakayama Racecourse
InauguratedJanuary 5, 1960
Race typeThoroughbred Flat racing
Race information
Distance2200 metres
SurfaceTurf
TrackRight-handed
Qualification4-y-o +, Colts & Fillies
WeightSpecial Weight
Purse¥ 134,620,000 (as of 2026)
  • 1st: ¥ 62,000,000
  • 2nd: ¥ 25,000,000
  • 3rd: ¥ 16,000,000

The American Jockey Club Cup (アメリカジョッキークラブカップ) is a Grade 2 (GII) flat horse race in Japan.[1]

Background

The American Jockey Club Cup is a Grade II Thoroughbred flat race in Japan open to horses aged four years and older.[1] It is held annually in late January at Nakayama Racecourse over a distance of 2,200 meters on turf (outer course).[1] The race is run under weight-for-age conditions: 56 kg for 4-year-olds, 57 kg for 5-year-olds and up, with fillies and mares receiving a 2 kg allowance.[2] Additional weight penalties apply based on recent graded stakes performances.[2]

Eligibility includes JRA-trained horses, up to two certified regional (NAR) horses, and foreign-trained horses with priority entry.[3] The first-place prize in 2026 was ¥62 million.[1] The trophy is officially known as the American Jockey Club Prize.[1]

History

The American Jockey Club Cup was inaugurated on January 5, 1960, at Nakayama Racecourse as a 2,000-meter handicap race for horses aged five and older, created to commemorate the post–World War II friendship between Japan and the United States, following a gift of the winner’s cup from the New York Jockey Club.[4]

In 1961, the race was restructured: it swapped scheduling dates with the Kinpai (now the Nakayama Kimpai), changed from handicap to weight-for-age conditions, and extended to 2,600 meters.[1] Over the next two decades, the race saw multiple venue and distance changes, alternating between Nakayama and Tokyo Racecourses and ranging from 2,400 to 2,600 meters.[5] In 1984, coinciding with the introduction of Japan’s official grading system, the race was designated Grade II and permanently settled at Nakayama over 2,200 meters, though that year’s edition was exceptionally run on dirt (1,800m) due to heavy snowfall.[6]

The race gradually opened to international participation: foreign-bred horses were allowed from 1972, foreign-trained horses from 2006, and regional (NAR) horses from 2020.[7] Following Japan’s elevation to “Part I” status in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, the race received international Grade II recognition in 2009.[8][9] Over the years, the field size has gradually increased, expanding from 16 to 18 runners.[1]

Past winners

Year Winner Age Length (in m) Jockey Trainer Owner Time
1960 Onward Bell 4 T2000 Takegoro Ebina Toshio Nihonyanagi Junzo Kashiyama 2:04.9
1961 Yashima First 4 T2600 Takayoshi Yasuda Tokichi Ogata Shohei Kobayashi 2:43.6
1962 Takamagahara 5 T2600 Takemi Kaga Kizo Konishi Taro Hirai 2:43.3
1963 Korehisa 4 T2600 Shigekatsu Moriyasu Tokichi Ogata Yasushi Chigira 2:42.4
1964 Suzu Top Run 5 T2600 Yoshio Nohira Suenosuke Mori Yoshio Komurasaki 2:46.8
1965 Asahoko 5 T2600 Takemi Kaga Tomiyoshi Fujimoto Eiichi Tezuka 2:42.5
1966 Haku Zuiko 5 T2600 Takayoshi Yasuda Tokichi Ogata Hiroshi Nishi 2:42.0
1967 Speed Symboli 4 T2500 Yuji Nohira Tomihisa Nohira Tomohiro Wada 2:37.3
1968 Niu Onward 4 T2500 Shigekatsu Moriyasu Tokichi Ogata Junzo Kashiyama 2:39.0
1969 Asaka O 4 T2500 Takemi Kaga Hiroshi Nakamura Genji Asaka 2:38.9
1970 Speed Symboli 7 T2500 Yuji Nohira Tomihisa Nohira Tomohiro Wada 2:34.9
1971 Akane Tenryu 5 T2500 Toshihide Marume Teruo Hashimoto Eiichi Sekino 2:36.2
1972 Mejiro Asama 6 T2400 Masahiro Ikegami Takayoshi Yasuda Toyokichi Kitano 2:28.4
1973 Onward Guy 5 T2400 Hayato Minoda Suenosuke Mori Junzo Kashiyama 2:30.1
1974 Take Hope 4 T2400 Futoshi Kojima Yukio Inaba Take Kondo 2:27.5
1975 Strong Eight 6 T2400 Hiroyuki Nakajima Shinji Okuhira Highland Ranch Ltd. 2:31.9
1976 White Fontaine 6 T2400 Tsukasa Takahashi Katsuyuki Okubo Kei Yoshihashi 2:28.7
1977 Green Grass 4 T2400 Tomio Yasuda Takao Nakano Kichishiro Hanzawa 2:26.3
1978 Kashu Chikara 5 T2400 Akemi Deguchi Tamao Yagura Gonzaburo Yoshida 2:28.9
1979 Sakura Shori 4 T2400 Futoshi Kojima Hikoyuki Kubota Sakura Commerce Co. Ltd. 2:29.0
1980 Kanemikasa 6 T2500 Seiji Ebisawa Akimitsu Narumiya Ikuko Hatakeyama 2:37.1
1981 Hoyo Boy 6 T2500 Kazuhiro Kato Toshio Nihonyanagi Yoshiharu Furukawa 2:37.5
1982 Amber Shadai 5 T2500 Kazuhiro Kato Toshio Nihonyanagi Zenya Yoshida 2:34.3
1983 Amber Shadai 6 T2500 Kazuhiro Kato Toshio Nihonyanagi Zenya Yoshida 2:35.4
1984 Shuzan King 5 D1800 Masamitsu Tamura Yoyomatsu Kaji Kazuo Taira 1:52.6
1985 Sakura Gaisen 5 T2200 Futoshi Kojima Hikoyuki Kubota Sakura Commerce Co. Ltd. 2:14.4
1986 Suda Hawk 4 T2200 Seiki Tabara Ryoji Furuyama Matsuo Suda 2:13.3
1987 Miho Shinzan 5 T2200 Masato Shibata Tomojirō Tanaka Kanji Tsutsumi 2:15.4
1988 Kashima Wing 5 T2200 Hitoshi Matoba Yoshiji Iizuka Yasuo Matsuura 2:13.4
1989 Running Free 6 T2200 Yasuo Sugawara Kazuhiko Hongo Taisuke Fujishima 2:15.6
1990 Sakura Hokuto O 4 T2200 Futoshi Kojima Katsutaro Sakai Sakura Commerce Co. Ltd. 2:13.8
1991 Mejiro Monterey 5 T2200 Norihiro Yokoyama Shinji Okuhira Mejiro Farm Ltd. 2:13.8
1992 Tosho Falcon 6 T2200 Masato Shibata Tsutomu Nizeki Tosho Sangyo Co. Ltd. 2:12.8
1993 White Stone 6 T2200 Masato Shibata Kunio Takamatsu Hiroshi Ando 2:15.0
1994 Matikanetannhauser 5 T2200 Yoshitomi Shibata Yuji Ito Masuo Hosokawa 2:14.1
1995 Sakura Chitose O 5 T2200 Futoshi Kojima Katsutaro Sakai Sakura Commerce Co. Ltd. 2:14.4
1996 Kanetsu Cross 5 T2200 Hitoshi Matoba Masahiro Horii Kanetsu Racehorse Co. Ltd. 2:15.0
1997 Rosen Kavalier 4 T2200 Norihiro Yokoyama Yasuhiro Suzuki Shadai Race Horse Ltd. 2:14.9
1998 Mejiro Bright 4 T2200 Hiroshi Kawachi Hidekazu Asami Mejiro Farm Ltd. 2:15.3
1999 Special Week 4 T2200 Olivier Peslier Toshiaki Shirai Hiroyoshi Usuda 2:16.8
2000 Matikane Kinnohosi 4 T2200 Shinji Fujita Kazuo Fujisawa Masuo Hosokawa 2:13.4
2001 American Boss 6 T2200 Teruo Eda Fuyuki Tago Abiru Real Estate Co. Ltd. 2:13.8
2002 Fusaichi Run Heart 5 T2200 Teruo Eda Michifumi Kono Fusao Sekiguchi 2:13.7
2003 Magnaten 7 T2200 Olivier Peslier Kazuo Fujisawa Takao Komai 2:12.3
2004 Dantsu Judge 5 T2200 Shinji Fujita Kenji Yamauchi Tetsuji Yamamoto 2:15.5
2005 Kraftwerk 5 T2200 Norihiro Yokoyama Yoshiyuki Goto Sunday Racing Ltd. 2:11.4
2006 Silk Famous 7 T2200 Yoshitomi Shibata Ippo Sameshima Silk Ltd. 2:13.2
2007 Matsurida Gogh 4 T2200 Norihiro Yokoyama Sakae Kunieda Fumie Takahashi 2:12.8
2008 Air Shady 7 T2200 Hiroki Goto Masanori Ito Lucky Field Co. Ltd. 2:13.6
2009 Never Bouchon 6 T2200 Norihiro Yokoyama Masanori Ito TH Co. Ltd. 2:13.9
2010 Never Bouchon 7 T2200 Norihiro Yokoyama Masanori Ito TH Co. Ltd. 2:12.6
2011 Tosen Jordan 5 T2200 Hiroyuki Uchida Yasutoshi Ikee Takaya Shimakawa 2:14.2
2012 Rulership 5 T2200 Yuichi Fukunaga Katsuhiko Sumii Sunday Racing Ltd. 2:17.3
2013 Danone Ballade 5 T2200 Fran Berry Yasutoshi Ikee Danox Co. Ltd. 2:13.1
2014 Verde Green 6 T2200 Hironobu Tanabe Ikuo Aizawa Mitsumasa Saito 2:14.0
2015 Courir Kaiser 6 T2200 Hironobu Tanabe Ikuo Aizawa Shuji Yokoyama 2:13.6
2016 Decipher 7 T2200 Yutaka Take Futoshi Kojima Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum 2:12.0
2017 Tanta Alegria 5 T2200 Masayoshi Ebina Sakae Kunieda G1 Racing Co. Ltd. 2:11.9
2018 Danburite 4 T2200 Mirco Demuro Hidetaka Otonashi Sunday Racing Ltd. 2:13.3
2019 Sciacchetra 6 T2200 Shu Ishibashi Katsuhiko Sumii Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co. Ltd. 2:13.7
2020 Blast Onepiece 5 T2200 Yuga Kawada Masahiro Otake Silk Racing Ltd. 2:15.0
2021 Aristoteles 4 T2200 Christophe Lemaire Hidetaka Otonashi Hideko Kondo 2:17.9
2022 King Of Koji 6 T2200 Norihiro Yokoyama Shogo Yasuda Kazuhiro Masuda 2:12.7
2023 North Bridge 5 T2200 Yasunari Iwata Takeshi Okumura Noboru Iyama 2:13.5
2024 Chuck Nate 6 T2200 Rachel King Noriyuki Hori Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co. Ltd. 2:16.6
2025 Danon Decile 4 T2200 Keita Tosaki Shogo Yasuda Danox Co. Ltd. 2:12.1
2026 Shohei 4 T2200 Yuga Kawada Yasuo Tomomichi Tatsue Ishikawa 2:10.8

See also

Netkeiba

Source:[10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "アメリカジョッキークラブＣ". ahonoora.com. Retrieved 2026-01-19.
  2. ^ a b "List of JRA Graded Races 2025｜List of JRA Graded Races｜Horse Racing in Japan". Horse Racing in Japan. Retrieved 2025-01-26.
  3. ^ "【ＡＪＣ杯】ルーラーシップ 強烈末脚で差し切り圧勝！ - スポニチ Sponichi Annex ギャンブル". スポニチ Sponichi Annex (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-01-19.
  4. ^ "歴史・コース：アメリカジョッキークラブカップ　今週の注目レース　JRA". www.jra.go.jp. Retrieved 2026-01-19.
  5. ^ "🇺🇸 G2 AJCC2025 全頭診断 🇺🇸｜玲音覇愛兎". note（ノート） (in Japanese). 2025-01-23. Retrieved 2026-01-19.
  6. ^ "アメリカジョッキークラブカップとは - わかりやすく解説 Weblio辞書". www.weblio.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-01-19.
  7. ^ "【マル外G1馬まとめ】日本国内のG1(Jpn1含む)を勝利した外国産馬の一覧 | 競馬まとめ". netkeiba (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-01-19.
  8. ^ "国際グレード格付け方法が変更 | 競馬ニュース". netkeiba (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-01-19.
  9. ^ "American Jockey Club Cup (G2)". japanracing.jp.
  10. ^ "AJCC". Netkeiba.
  11. ^ "American Jockey Club Cup". Netkeiba.
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