Nakayama Kimpai

Nakayama Kimpai
中山金杯
2011 Nakayama Kimpai
ClassGrade 3
LocationNakayama Racecourse
InauguratedJanuary 20, 1952
Race typeThoroughbred Flat racing
Race information
Distance2000 metres
SurfaceTurf
TrackRight-handed
Qualification4-y-o +
WeightHandicap
Purse¥ 92,980,000 (as of 2025)
  • 1st: ¥ 43,000,000
  • 2nd: ¥ 17,000,000
  • 3rd: ¥ 11,000,000

The Nakayama Kimpai (中山金杯) is a Grade 3 (GIII) flat horse race in Japan.[1]

Background

The Nakayama Kimpai is a Grade III Thoroughbred handicap race in Japan, open to horses aged four years and older.[1] It is held annually on January 5 (or the nearest available date) at Nakayama Racecourse over a distance of 2,000 meters on turf (inner course).[1] Eligible entrants must have raced at least once and cannot be unraced or maiden horses.[2] The field includes JRA-trained horses, up to two certified NAR (local) horses, and foreign-trained horses with priority entry.[2] As a handicap race, weights are assigned based on each horse's past performance to ensure competitive balance.[1] The first-place prize in 2026 is ¥43 million.[1]

The race is officially titled the “Nikkan Sports Sho Nakayama Kimpai”, sponsored by Nikkan Sports newspaper (Tokyo headquarters), and the winner receives the Nikkan Sports Newspaper Prize.[3]

History

The Nakayama Kimpai was first run on January 20, 1952, as the “Kin Hai” (金杯) for horses aged five and older (equivalent to four-year-olds under current standards) over 2,600 meters on turf at Nakayama Racecourse.[1] From 1954 to 1960, it was briefly run under weight-for-age (別定) conditions, but reverted to handicap thereafter.[1] In 1961, the race underwent a change: it swapped distance and timing with the newly created American Jockey Club Cup, shortening to 2,000 meters and moving to early January, becoming Japan's traditional opening graded stakes race of the New Year.[1]

From 1966 to 1995, a separate “Kin Hai” was also held at Kyoto Racecourse (now the Kyoto Kimpai).[4] To distinguish the two, the Nakayama version was officially renamed “Nikkan Sports Sho Nakayama Kimpai” in 1996.[5] The race was designated Grade III in 1984 with the introduction of JRA's grading system.[1] International participation expanded gradually: foreign-bred horses were allowed from 1994, foreign-trained horses from 2006 (initially 4 runners, later 8 in 2007 and 9 in 2015), and NAR horses from 2020.[6] The venue has seen occasional changes due to external factors: it was held at Tokyo (1970–1979, 1996, 2002) and even Fukushima in 1972 due to equine influenza and labor strikes.[7] Since 1980, however, it has been permanently set at Nakayama.[1]

The race is affectionately known among fans by the pun: “Ichinen no kei wa Kinpai ni ari” (“The year’s plan lies in the Kimpai”), echoing the New Year proverb.[8]

Past winners

Year Winner Age Length (in m) Jockey Trainer Owner Time
1952 Sachifusa 4 T2600 Takegoro Ebina Tomiyoshi Fujimoto Tohoku Farm Co. Ltd. 2:46.2
1953 Asatomo 4 T2600 Ryoji Furuyama Yoichiro Mochizuki Eiichi Tezuka 2:47.2
1954 Gaisei 4 T2600 Takayoshi Yasuda Tokichi Ogata Toshiaki Iwasaki 2:53.4
1955 Hakuryu 5 T2600 Takayoshi Yasuda Tokichi Ogata Hiroshi Nishi 2:45.2
1956 Kuri Chikara 6 T2600 Hiroaki Moriyasu Tokichi Ogata Tomoji Kuribayashi 2:57.2
1957 Homa Lemon 4 T2600 Isao Yamamoto Tokichi Ogata Masaichi Nagata 2:44.1
1958 Onward There 4 T2600 Yoshio Nohira Toshio Nihonyanagi Junzo Kashiyama 2:53.4
1959 Tosa O 4 T2600 Yuji Nohira Kichisaburo Matsuyama Gizo Mizomoto 2:47.3
1960 Kane Chikara 4 T2600 Hiroaki Moriyasu Shotaro Abe Yoshiaki Kanesashi 2:48.1
1961 Yamanin More 4 T2000 Katsuhiko Fujimoto Tomiyoshi Fujimoto Koji Doi 2:05.8
1962 Onslaught 4 T2000 Yamaoka Ken Hiroshi Nakamura Masashi Araki 2:03.3
1963 Kanetsu Seki 4 T2000 Takeo Ito Kinzo Kubota Masaki Shimizu 2:03.4
1964 Toast 5 T2000 Takayoshi Yasuda Ogata Fujiyoshi Masaichi Nagata 2:04.1
1965 Asahoko 5 T2000 Takemi Kaga Tomiyoshi Fujimoto Eiichi Tezuka 2:04.2
1966 Yamadori 5 T2000 Hiroaki Moriyasu Morisuenosuke Yutaro Shimizu 2:03.8
1967 Higashi Thonella O 5 T2000 Takeo Ito Kinzo Kubota Seigoro Sakamoto 2:06.1
1968 Onward Hill 5 T2000 Mitsuo Makino Hiroshi Nakamura Junzo Kashiyama 2:04.8
1969 Hakusetsu 4 T2000 Yukio Okabe Hideo Takahashi Katsugoro Nakamura 2:04.4
1970 Sweet Flag 6 T2000 Yuji Nohira Shozo Nohira Tomohiro Wada 2:03.8
1971 Kojo 5 D2100 Masato Yoshinaga Kichisaburo Matsuyama Morihiro Sato 2:12.0
1972 Koyo 4 T2000 Masao Kawakami Takeichi Kawakami Kinji Sato 2:01.6
1973 Kuri Iwai 4 T2000 Hiroyuki Gohara Katsuyuki Okubo Tomoji Kuribayashi 2:04.8
1974 Ina Boreas 5 T2000 Jin Miyata Sueyoshi Okubo Takato Inatomi 2:01.4
1975 Western Dash 4 T2000 Masanori Ito Ogata Fujiyoshi Nishikawa Shoji Co. Ltd. 2:03.1
1976 Eyeful 5 T2000 Yasuo Sugawara Yoshio Nakazumi Yoshiaki Fujimoto 2:03.1
1977 Harbor Young 5 T2000 Yukio Okabe Hideo Inaba Harbor Co. Ltd. 2:02.0
1978 Shimano Katsuharu 5 D2100 Futoshi Kojima Ryoji Furuyama Katsuji Takahashi 2:09.7
1979 C.B. Cross 4 T2000 Masato Yoshinaga Kichisaburo Matsuyama Chigira Bokujo 2:00.6
1980 Yoshinosky 4 T2000 Hitoshi Matoba Seisuke Sato Misako Yoshizawa 2:08.4
1981 Droppo Lord 4 T2000 Eiji Nakano Shizuo Araki Shuzo Takimura 2:02.0
1982 Eighty Tosho 4 T2000 Hiroyuki Nakajima Shinji Okudaira Tosho Sangyo Co. Ltd. 2:04.4
1983 Yorozu Happiness 4 T2000 Masanori Ito Mitsuhiro Ogata IKT Owners Co. Ltd. 2:02.2
1984 Dokan Yashima 4 T2000 Eizaburo Otsuka Tojiro Tanaka Arai Kogyo Co. Ltd. 2:01.8
1985 Suzu Parade 4 T2000 Masamitsu Tamura Rokuro Tomita Yoshio Komurasaki 2:00.4
1986 Kushiro King 4 T2000 Yukio Okabe Takayoshi Nakano Akira Abe 2:01.6
1987 Tochino Nishiki 5 T2000 Seiji Ebiwawa Hironori Kurita Mitsuo Soutome 2:02.6
1988 Iron Ciro 6 T2000 Hayato Minata Suenosuke Mori Masayuki Nishiyama 2:01.9
1989 Nishino Mirror 5 T2000 Yoshinori Muto Masahiro Sato Masayuki Nishiyama 2:00.7
1990 Mejiro Monterey 4 T2000 Norihiro Yokoyama Shinji Okudaira Mejiro Farm Ltd. 2:00.4
1991 Carib Song 5 T2000 Masato Shibata Shuho Kato Ogibushi Ranch Racing Club Co. Ltd. 2:00.4
1992 Tosho Falco 6 T2000 Masato Shibata Shinsekiryoku Tosho Sangyo Co. Ltd. 1:59.6
1993 Sekitai Ryu O 4 T2000 Katsuharu Tanaka Toshifumi Fujiwara Shingen Tourism Co. Ltd. 2:00.5
1994 Hidaka Hayato 7 T2000 Eizaburo Otsuka Hiroaki Moriyasu Seiho Shokusan Co. Ltd. 2:00.7
1995 Sakura Laurel 4 T2000 Futoshi Kojima Katsutaro Sakai Shoretsu Zen 2:00.5
1996 Best Tie Up 4 T2000 Norihiro Yokoyama Yasuhisa Matsuyama Teruya Yoshida 1:59.3
1997 Best Tie Up 5 T2000 Yukio Okabe Yasuhisa Matsuyama Teruya Yoshida 2:01.5
1998 Gourmet Frontier 6 T2000 Yukio Okabe Kiyotaka Tanaka Masayoshi Ishii 2:01.4
1999 Silent Hunter 6 T2000 Yutaka Yoshida Yokichi Okubo Hiroyoshi Usuda 2:00.8
2000 Jo Big Bang 5 T2000 Kazuhiro Yamada Masanao Tsubo Keiko Ueda 2:01.4
2001 Charisma Sun Opera 4 T2000 Eiji Nakadate Hiroki Sakiyama Toshiyuki Kuroyanagi 2:01.2
2002 Big Gold 4 T2000 Yoshitomi Shibata Tadashi Nakao Big Co. Ltd. 1:59.0
2003 Toho Shiden 6 T2000 Katsuharu Tanaka Kiyotaka Tanaka Toho Bussan Co. Ltd. 2:00.0
2004 Asaka Defeat 6 T2000 Eiji Nakadate Akio Tsurudome Yoshio Asakawa 1:59.2
2005 Craft Work 5 T2000 Norihiro Yokoyama Yohiyuki Goto Sunday Racing Ltd. 1:59.0
2006 Vita Rosa 6 T2000 Yuichi Shibayama Kojiro Hahiguchi Sunday Racing Ltd. 1:59.4
2007 Shadow Gate 5 T2000 Katsuharu Tanaka Yukihiro Kato Tomokazu Iizuka 2:02.4
2008 Admire Fuji 6 T2000 Yuga Kawada Mitsuru Hashida Riichi Kondo 2:00.7
2009 Admire Fuji 7 T2000 Yuga Kawada Mitsuru Hashida Riichi Kondo 1:58.5
2010 Axion 7 T2000 Shinji Fujita Yohitaka Ninomiya Tohru Nakata 2:00.8
2011 Cosmo Phantom 4 T2000 Masami Matsuoka Toru Miya Big Red Farm Ltd. 1:59.8
2012 Federalist 5 T2000 Masayoshi Ebina Tsuyoshi Tanaka Shadai Race Horse Ltd. 1:59.4
2013 Touch Me Not 7 T2000 Norihiro Yokoyama Isamu Shibasaki Teruya Yoshida 1:59.8
2014 Ocean Blue 6 T2000 Fran Berry Yasutoshi Ikee Aoshiba Shoji Co. Ltd. 2:00.1
2015 Lovely Day 5 T2000 Fran Berry Yasutoshi Ikee Kaneko Masato Holdings Co. Ltd. 1:57.8
2016 Yamakatsu Ace 4 T2000 Kenichi Ikezoe Kaneo Ikezoe Kazuo Yamada 2:01.2
2017 Tsukuba Azuma O 6 T2000 Yutaka Yoshida Mitsuhiro Ogata Shoji Hagiwara 2:00.6
2018 Seda Brillantes 4 T2000 Keita Tosaki Takahisa Tezuka Silk Racing Ltd. 1:59.8
2019 Win Bright 5 T2000 Masami Matsuoka Yoshihiro Hatakeyama Win Co. Ltd. 1:59.2
2020 Triomphe 6 T2000 Mirco Demuro Naosuke Sugai Kuwata Farm Co. Ltd. 1:59.5
2021 Hishi Iguazu 5 T2000 Kohei Matsuyama Noriyuki Hori Masahide Abe 2:00.9
2022 Red Galant 7 T2000 Arata Saito Takayuki Yasuda Tokyo Horse Racing Co. Ltd. 2:00.1
2023 Lagulf 4 T2000 Keita Tosaki Yoshitada Munakata Takashi Muraki 2:00.2
2024 Licancabur 5 T2000 Akihide Tsumura Katsunori Tanaka La Mer Co. Ltd. 1:58.9
2025 Al Naseem 6 T2000 Yusuke Fujioka Shinsuke Hashiguchi Lion Race Horse Co. Ltd. 1:58.1
2026 Kalamatianos 4 T2000 Akihide Tsumura Takeshi Okumura Sunday Racing Co. Ltd. 2:00.3

See also

Netkeiba

Source:[9][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "中山金杯". ahonoora.com. Retrieved 2026-01-04.
  2. ^ a b "Nakayama Himpai". Horse Racing in Japan.
  3. ^ "２０２６ 年 第 １ 回 中 山 競馬番組" [2026 1st Nakayama Racecourse Program] (PDF) (in Japanese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-12-10.
  4. ^ "京都金杯". ahonoora.com. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  5. ^ "歴史・コース：スポーツニッポン賞京都金杯　今週の注目レース　JRA". jra.jp. Retrieved 2026-01-04.
  6. ^ "歴史・コース：日刊スポーツ賞中山金杯　今週の注目レース　JRA". jra.jp. Retrieved 2026-01-04.
  7. ^ "中央競馬指定交流競走に出走する地方競馬所属馬の決定方法" [Method for determining which horses from local racing associations will compete in designated JRA races] (PDF) (in Japanese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-12-13.
  8. ^ "骨雑な週末" [A rough weekend] (PDF) (in Japanese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2026-01-04.
  9. ^ "中山金杯". Netkeiba.
  10. ^ "Nikkan Sports Sho Nakayama Kimpai". Netkeiba.
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