Japan Dirt Derby

Japan Dirt Derby

Domestic Grade I (JpnI) race
2009 Japan Dirt Derby winner, Testa Matta
Location	Oi Racecourse Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan
Inaugurated	1999
Race type	Thoroughbred
Race information
Distance	2000 meters
Surface	Dirt
Track	Right-handed
Qualification	3-year-old
Weight	Colt & Geldings 56 kg, Filly 54 kg
Purse	¥ 102,000,000 (as of 2021) 1st: ¥ 60,000,000 2nd: ¥ 21,000,000 3rd: ¥ 12,000,000

The Japan Dirt Derby (ジャパンダートダービー) is a Japanese Domestic Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan for three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies run over a distance of 2,000 metres (approximately 1 mile 2 furlongs) at the Oi Racecourse, Shinagawa, Tokyo in late July.

It was first run in 1999 and is the Japanese equivalent of the American Kentucky Derby. But this race is the last leg of triple crown of minami-kanto keiba (nankan keiba), while Kentucky Derby is the first one of American triple crown races.

The majority of winners comes from the Japan Racing Association (JRA), another Japan horse racing governing body. As JRA do not host any dirt Grade 1 race exclusively for 3-year-old horses. It is also the only 3-year-old Grade 1 race in Japan that Geldings can enter.

Announced last June 20, 2022, in 2024, it will become the third leg of the Japanese Triple Crown of Dirt along with Haneda Hai and Tokyo Derby. The name of the race may be changed as well as the schedule will be moved to October. Geldings will no longer be able to enter and prize money for 1st place will be increased to ¥ 70,000,000.

Winners since 1999

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Organization	Time
1999	Orion The Thanks	3	Shuji Hayata	Kiyomatsu Akama	Keiko Hiura	Oi	2:06.9
2000	Meiner Combat	3	Naohiro Onishi	Ryuichi Inaba	Thoroughbred Club Ruffian Co. Ltd.	JRA	2:06.4
2001	Toshin Blizzard	3	Takayuki Ishigaki	Kenji Sato	Eiichi Waizumi	Funabashi	2:05.8
2002	Gold Allure	3	Yutaka Take	Yasuo Ikee	Shadai Racehorse	JRA	2:04.1
2003	Big Wolf	3	Yutaka Take	Tadashi Nakao	U Big	JRA	2:04.9
2004	Cafe Olympus	3	Yoshitomi Shibata	Yasuhisa Matsuyama	Koichi Nishikawa	JRA	2:04.5
2005	Kane Hekili	3	Yutaka Take	Katsuhiko Sumii	Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co. Ltd.	JRA	2:04.9
2006	Friendship	3	Hiroyuki Uchida	Katsuhiko Sumii	Teruya Yoshida	JRA	2:06.1
2007	Furioso	3	Tadanari Konno	Masayuki Kawashima	Darley Japan Farm Co. Ltd.	Funabashi	2:02.9
2008	Success Brocken	3	Norihiro Yokoyama	Hideaki Fujiwara	Tetsu Takashima	JRA	2:04.5
2009	Testa Matta	3	Yasunari Iwata	Akira Murayama	Katsumi Yoshida	JRA	2:04.5
2010	Magnifica	3	Keita Tosaki	Masayuki Kawashima	Teruya Yoshida	Funabashi	2:05.2
2011	Grape Brandy	3	Norihiro Yokoyama	Takayuki Yasuda	Shadai Racehorse	JRA	2:04.9
2012	Hatano Vainqueur	3	Hirofumi Shii	Mitsugu Kon	Good Luck Farm Co. Ltd.	JRA	2:05.3
2013	Chrysolite	3	Hiroyuki Uchida	Hidetaka Otonashi	U Carrot Farm	JRA	2:04.8
2014	Kazenoko	3	Shinichiro Akiyama	Kenji Nonaka	Koji Nudejima	JRA	2:03.9
2015	Nonkono Yume	3	Christophe Lemaire	Yukihiro Kato	Kotaro Yamada	JRA	2:05.6
2016	Kyoei Gere	3	Keita Tosaki	Yoshito Yahagi	Haruo Tanaka	JRA	2:05.7
2017	Higashi Will Win	3	Masashige Honda	Kenji Sato	MMC Co. Ltd.	Funabashi	2:05.8
2018	Le Vent Se Leve	3	Mirco Demuro	Kiyoshi Hagiwara	G1 Racing	JRA	2:05.8
2019	Chrysoberyl	3	Yuga Kawada	Hidetaka Otonashi	U Carrot Farm	JRA	2:06.1
2020	Danon Pharaoh	3	Ryusei Sakai	Yoshito Yahagi	Danox Co. Ltd.	JRA	2:05.9
2021	Castle Top	3	Kazuma Nakano	Nobuhiro Shibuya	Hiroshi Joichi	Funabashi	2:05.9
2022	Notturno	3	Yutaka Take	Hidetaka Otonashi	Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co. Ltd.	JRA	2:04.6