The Nakayama Grand Jump (中山グランドジャンプ) is a Japanese horse racing steeplechase, held at Nakayama Racecourse every year in mid-April. It is for thoroughbreds, four years old and older, run at a distance of 4250m (2 5/8 miles + 84 feet).
| Jump Grade 1 race | |
 2009 Nakayama Grand Jump winner Spring Ghent | |
| Location | Nakayama Racecourse |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1999 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred-Steeplechase |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 4250 meters (About 2 and 2/3 miles) |
| Surface | Turf |
| Track | Right and Left-handed |
| Qualification | 4-y-o & Up, Thoroughbreds |
| Weight | 4-y-o 62 kg, 5-y-o + 63 kg Allowance: Fillies & mares 2 kg |
| Purse | ¥ 142,660,000 (as of 2024) 1st: ¥ 66,000,000 2nd: ¥ 26,000,000 3rd: ¥ 17,000,000 |
With a purse of over 142,660,000 yen, (about US$1.3 million), the Nakayama Grand Jump is one of the richest steeplechase races in the world. Held as "Nakayama Daishogai spring" until 1998, it was first run in 1999 as a 4100m race. It is one of two Grade I steeplechase races on Japanese turf, beside the Nakayama Daishogai, which slightly reconfigures the same racecourse.
The race is run on Nakayama's steeplechase course, which follows a twisted path on the racecourse interior over a series of jumps, inclines and declines. The dirt course is also crossed several times. On the final lap, with about 1200 m (3/4 mile) remaining, horses enter the outer turf course along the backstretch for the race's final three jumps. Five foreign runners have won: St Steven (New Zealand 2002), Karasi (Australia 2005, 2006, 2007) and Blackstairmountain (Ireland 2013).
Winners
edit| Year |
Winner |
Age |
Jockey |
Trainer |
Owner |
Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999(*1) | Mejiro Pharaoh | 6 | Takashi Oehara | Yokichi Okubo | Mejiro Shoji co. | 4:56.2 |
| 2000 | Gokai | 7 | Yoshiyuki Yokoyama | Hiroyuki Gohara | Kei Yoshihashi | 4:43.1 |
| 2001 | Gokai | 8 | Yoshiyuki Yokoyama | Hiroyuki Gohara | Kei Yoshihashi | 4:52.3 |
| 2002 | St Steven | 8 | Craig Thornton | John Wheeler | John Wheeler | 4:50.9 |
| 2003 | Big Taste | 5 | Katsuyoshi Tsuneishi | Tadashi Nakao | Big co. | 4:48.9 |
| 2004 | Blandices | 7 | Takashi Oehara | Tatsuo Fujiwara | Sunday Racing Co. Ltd. | 4:47.0 |
| 2005 | Karasi | 10 | Brett Scott | Eric Musgrove | Pearse Morgan | 4:50.4 |
| 2006 | Karasi | 11 | Brett Scott | Eric Musgrove | Pearse Morgan | 4:50.8 |
| 2007 | Karasi | 12 | Brett Scott | Eric Musgrove | Pearse Morgan | 4:50.4 |
| 2008 | Maruka Rascal | 6 | Makoto Nishitani | Yutaka Masumoto | Kawacho Sangyo | 4:57.7 |
| 2009 | Spring Ghent | 9 | Yuzo Shirahama | Akihiko Nomura | Haruo Kato | 4:49.1 |
| 2010 | Merci Mont Saint | 5 | Yosuke Kono | Kohei Take | Mitsuishi Farm | 5:03.5 |
| 2011(*2) | Meiner Neos | 8 | Daichi Shibata | Ryuichi Inaba | K Thoroughbred Club Ruffian | 4:51.6 |
| 2012 | Majesty Bio | 5 | Daichi Shibata | Tsuyoshi Tanaka | Bio Co. Ltd. | 5:02.9 |
| 2013 | Blackstairmountain | 8 | Ruby Walsh | Willie Mullins | Susannah Ricci | 4:50.5 |
| 2014 | Apollo Maverick | 5 | Yusuke Igarashi | Masahiro Horii | Apollo Thoroughbred Club | 4:50.7 |
| 2015 | Up To Date | 5 | Mitsuaki Hayashi | Shozo Sasaki | Kazuo Imanishi | 4:46.6 |
| 2016 | Oju Chosan | 5 | Shinichi Ishigami | Shoichiro Wada | Chosan Co Ltd | 4:49.64 |
| 2017 | Oju Chosan | 6 | Shinichi Ishigami | Shoichiro Wada | Chosan Co Ltd | 4:50.8 |
| 2018 | Oju Chosan | 7 | Shinichi Ishigami | Shoichiro Wada | Chosan Co Ltd | 4:43.0 |
| 2019 | Oju Chosan | 8 | Shinichi Ishigami | Shoichiro Wada | Chosan Co Ltd | 4:47.6 |
| 2020 | Oju Chosan | 9 | Shinichi Ishigami | Shoichiro Wada | Chosan Co Ltd | 5:02.9 |
| 2021 | Meisho Dassai | 8 | Kazuma Mori | Yuji Iida | Yoshio Matsumoto | 4:50.1 |
| 2022 | Oju Chosan | 11 | Shinichi Ishigami | Shoichiro Wada | Chosan Co Ltd | 4:52.3 |
| 2023 | Irogotoshi | 6 | Yu Kuroiwa | Kazuya Makita | Gensho Uchida | 4:54.1 |
| 2024 | Irogotoshi | 7 | Yu Kuroiwa | Kazuya Makita | Gensho Uchida | 4:47.2 |
- (*1):The 1999 race was open to Japanese trained horses only.
- (*2):As a result of 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the 2011 race was postponed to July 2, and run over a distance of 4260m. For this year only, three-year-olds were allowed to enter the race. The weight conditions were changed to 61.5 kg for three-year-olds and 63.5 for four-year-olds or above.
References
edit- ^ "中山GJ". Netkeiba.
- ^ "Nakayama Grand Jump". Netkeiba.