Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Japan)

The Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup until 2012) is an International Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan for three-year-old and above thoroughbred fillies and mares run over a distance of 2,200 metres (approximately 1 mile 3 furlongs) on the turf at Kyoto Racecourse in November.

Queen Elizabeth II Cup
エリザベス女王杯
Grade 1 race
2022 Queen Elizabeth II Cup winner Geraldina
LocationKyoto Racecourse, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture
Inaugurated1976
Race typeThoroughbred
Websitejapanracing.jp/
Race information
Distance2200 meters
(About 11 furlongs / 1+38 miles)
SurfaceTurf
TrackRight-handed
Qualification3-y-o & Up, Fillies & Mares only, Thoroughbreds
Weight3-y-o 54 kg \ 4-y-o & up 56 kg
Purse¥ 281,300,000 (as of 2024)
1st: ¥ 130,000,000
2nd: ¥ 52,000,000
3rd: ¥ 33,000,000

Originally called the Victoria Cup, it was renamed the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in 1975 to commemorate the visit of Elizabeth II to Japan.[1]

History

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The race was first run in 1976 over a distance of 2,400 metres (1 mile 4 furlongs). It was originally for three-year-old fillies only and was the third leg of the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown. In 1996, it was opened to older female horses and was reduced to its present distance. In the same year the Shuka Sho was established and became the third leg of the Fillies' Triple Crown.

Since 1999 it turned into International Grade 1 race. In 2010 Snow Fairy from England, being the first winner outside Japan. The following year she made Japanese flat racing history of being the first ever non-Japanese trained horse to win the same Grade 1 flat race back-to-back (second ever including Steeplechase, which Karasi winning Nakayama Grand Jump between 2005 and 2007).

It is the only Grade 1 race that is restricted to fillies and mares aged three or above. The other Grade 1 races for older female horses in Japan, the Victoria Mile, excludes three-year-olds.

Records

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Most successful horse (2 wins):

Winners

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Year
Winner
Age
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
Time
1976 Diamante 3 Yukiharu Matsuda Yukio Inaba Hiroyoshi Sato 2:28.5
1977 Inter Gloria 3 Yoichi Fukunaga Tsugio Yanagida Masao Matsuoka 2:28.7
1978 Lead Swallow 3 Kunihiko Take Masatoshi Hattori Yoshio Kumamoto 2:29.1
1979 Miss Kaburaya 3 Yukio Okabe Tokachi Nishizuka Kaburaya 2:32.6
1980 Hagino Top Lady 3 Kiyoaki Ito Shuji Ito Kokichi Hinokuma 2:27.9
1981 Agnes Tesco 3 Katsuichi Nishiura Michio Kubo Takao Watanabe 2:28.1
1982 Victoria Crown 3 Isao Shimada Yukio Inaba Masahi Iida 2:29.2
1983 Long Grace 3 Hiroshi Kawachi Minoru Kobayashi Choichi Nakai 2:30.1
1984 Kyowa Thunder 3 Hiroshi Higuchi Hachiro Yoshioka Yoshio Asakawa 2:28.4
1985 Reward Wing 3 Kunio Uchida Akio Tsurudome Tadahiko Miyazaki 2:26.8
1986 Mejiro Ramonu 3 Hiroshi Kawachi Shinji Okuhira Mejiro Bokujo 2:29.1
1987 Talented Girl 3 Seiji Ebisawa Hironori Kurita Masako Iida 2:29.3
1988 Miyama Poppy 3 Yukiharu Matsuda Yoshitaro Matsuda Ryogo Omiya 2:27.2
1989 Sand Peeress 3 Shigehiko Kishi Shinobu Yoshioka Hidaka Breeders Union 2:28.8
1990 Kyoei Tap 3 Norihiro Yokoyama Kenji Hieda Masao Matsuoka 2:25.5
1991 Rinden Lilly 3 Junichiro Oka Akira Nomoto Akitoshi Hayashida 2:29.6
1992 Takeno Velvet 3 Shinji Fujita Minoru Kobayashi Daikichi Takeoka 2:27.1
1993 Hokuto Vega 3 Kazuhiro Kato Takao Nakano Kanamorimori Shoji 2:24.9
1994 Hishi Amazon 3 Eiji Nakadate Takao Nakano Masaichiro Abe 2:24.3
1995 Sakura Candle 3 Futoshi Kojima Kazunori Sakai Sakura Commerce 2:27.3
1996 Dance Partner 4 Hirofumi Shii Toshiaki Shirai Katsumi Yoshida 2:14.3
1997 Erimo Chic 4 Hitoshi Matoba Yoshio Oki Shinichi Yamamoto 2:12.5
1998 Mejiro Dober 4 Yutaka Yoshida Yokichi Okubo Mejiro Shoji 2:12.8
1999 Mejiro Dober 5 Yutaka Yoshida Yokichi Okubo Mejiro Shoji 2:13.5
2000 Phalaenopsis 5 Mikio Matsunaga Mitsumasa Hamada North Hills Management Co Ltd 2:12.8
2001 To the Victory 5 Yutaka Take Yasuo Ikee Makoto Kaneko 2:11.2
2002 Fine Motion 3 Yutaka Take Yuji Ito Tatsuo Fushikida 2:13.2
2003 Admire Groove 3 Yutaka Take Mitsuru Hashida Riichi Kondo 2:11.8
2004 Admire Groove 4 Yutaka Take Mitsuru Hashida Riichi Kondo 2:13.6
2005 Sweep Tosho 4 Kenichi Ikezoe Akio Tsurudome Tosho Sangyo 2:12.5
2006 Fusaichi Pandora [a] 3 Yuichi Fukunaga Toshiaki Shirai Fusao Sekiguchi 2:11.6
2007 Daiwa Scarlet 3 Katsumi Ando Kunihide Matsuda Keizo Oshiro 2:11.9
2008 Little Amapola 3 Christophe Lemaire Hiroyuki Nagahama Shadai Racehorse Co 2:12.1
2009 Queen Spumante 5 Hiroyasu Tanaka Shigeyuki Kojima Green Farm 2:13.6
2010 Snow Fairy 3 Ryan Moore Ed Dunlop Anamoine Ltd 2:12.5
2011 Snow Fairy 4 Ryan Moore Ed Dunlop Anamoine Ltd 2:11.6
2012 Rainbow Dahlia 5 Yoshitomi Shibata Yoshitaka Ninomiya Yoshiko Tanaka 2:16.3
2013 Meisho Mambo 3 Koshiro Take Akihiro Iida Yoshio Matsumoto 2:16.6
2014 Lachesis 4 Yuga Kawada Katsuhiko Sumii Masaya Oshima 2:12.3
2015 Marialite 4 Masayoshi Ebina Takashi Kubota U Carrot Farm 2:14.9
2016 Queens Ring 4 Mirco Demuro Keiji Yoshimura Chizu Yoshida 2:12.9
2017 Mozu Katchan 3 Mirco Demuro Ippo Sameshima Capital System Co. Ltd 2:14.3
2018 Lys Gracieux 4 João Moreira Yoshito Yahagi U Carrot Farm 2:13.1
2019 Lucky Lilac 4 Christophe Soumillon Mikio Matsunaga Sunday Racing 2:14.1
2020 Lucky Lilac [b] 5 Christophe Lemaire Mikio Matsunaga Sunday Racing 2:10.3
2021 Akai Ito [b] 4 Hideaki Miyuki Kazuya Nakatake Koji Oka 2:12.1
2022 Geraldina [b] 4 Cristian Demuro Takashi Saito Sunday Racing 2:13.0
2023 Brede Weg 3 Christophe Lemaire Keisuke Miyata Sunday Racing 2:12.6
2024 Stunning Rose 5 Cristian Demuro Tomokazu Takano Sunday Racing 2:11.1

a Kawakami Princess finished first in 2006 but was demoted to 12th place following a Stewards' Inquiry.

b The 2020, 2021 and 2022 races took place at Hanshin Racecourse over a distance of 2200 metres.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1970年に3歳牝馬三冠競走の最終戦として創設された「ビクトリアカップ」が前身". JRA. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  2. ^ "エリザベス女王杯". Netkeiba.
  3. ^ "Queen Elizabeth 2 Cup". Netkeiba.
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