Unicorn Stakes
| Grade 3 race | |
 I Am Actress wins the 2011 Unicorn Stakes | |
| Location | Kyoto Racecourse |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1996 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred Flat racing |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1,900 meters |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Track | Right-handed |
| Qualification | 3-y-o |
| Weight | 57 kg Allowance: Fillies 2 kg |
| Purse | ¥ 79,920,000 (as of 2024) 1st: ¥ 37,000,000 2nd: ¥ 15,000,000 3rd: ¥ 9,000,000 |
The Unicorn Stakes (Japanese ユニコーンステークス) is a Grade 3 horse race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run in April over a distance of 1,900 metres on dirt at Kyoto Racecourse.[1]
The race was first run in 1996 and has held Grade 3 status ever since. The race was run over 1,800 meters at Nakayama Racecourse in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 before being moved to Tokyo Racecourse in 2001 until 2023 and was run over 1,600 meters. The race was permanently moved to Kyoto Racecourse in 2024, and the distance was also increased to 1,900 meters.[2] The schedule was also moved from June to late April, positioned as a preparatory race for the Tokyo Derby in which the winner receives a guaranteed spot for the said race.[3]
Past winners of the race have included Taiki Shuttle, Agnes Digital and Kane Hekili.
Records[edit]
Record time:
- 1:58.6 - Ramjet 2024, at a distance of 1,900 meters
- 1:34.9 - Cafe Pharoah 2020, at a distance of 1,600 meters
Most wins by a jockey:
- 2 - Yukio Okabe 1996, 1997
- 2 - Katsumi Ando 2003, 2008
- 2 - Yutaka Take 2005, 2007
- 2 - Yuichi Fukunaga 2012, 2019
Most wins by a trainer:
- 2 - Sei Ishizaka 2001, 2013
- 2 - Katsuhiko Sumii 2005, 2019
- 2 - Noriyuki Hori 2012, 2020
Winners[edit]
| Year |
Winner |
Jockey |
Trainer |
Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Shinko Windy | Yukio Okabe | Kiyotaka Tanaka | 1:52.8 |
| 1997 | Taiki Shuttle | Yukio Okabe | Kazuo Fujisawa | 1:36.8 |
| 1998 | Wing Arrow | Katsumi Minai | Yoshimi Kudo | 1:52.0 |
| 1999 | Gold Tiara[a] | Katsuharu Tanaka | Kunihide Matsuda | 1:52.6 |
| 2000 | Agnes Digital | Hitoshi Matoba | Toshiaki Shirai | 1:50.7 |
| 2001 | Nasdaq Power | Teruo Eda | Sei Ishizawa | 1:36.4 |
| 2002 | Himitsu Heiki | Seiji Sakai | Mitsuhiro Okabayashi | 1:36.4 |
| 2003 | Utopia | Katsumi Ando | Kojiro Hashiguchi | 1:35.8 |
| 2004 | Top of World | Hirofumi Shii | Kenichi Fujioka | 1:36.0 |
| 2005 | Kane Hekili | Yutaka Take | Katsuhiko Sumii | 1:36.5 |
| 2006 | Nike Earthwork | Norihiro Yokoyama | Masayuki Kawashima | 1:37.2 |
| 2007 | Long Pride | Yutaka Take | Yukiharu Ono | 1:36.9 |
| 2008 | Ubiquitous | Katsumi Ando | Nobuhiro Suzuki | 1:35.1 |
| 2009 | Silk Mobius | Hiroyasu Tanaka | Masazo Ryoke | 1:35.5 |
| 2010 | Birdie Birdie | Masami Matsuoka | Yasutoshi Ikee | 1:36.6 |
| 2011 | I Am Actress[a] | Shinichiro Akiyama | Hiroshi Nagahama | 1:36.2 |
| 2012 | Straw Hat | Yuichi Fukunaga | Noriyuki Hori | 1:36.5 |
| 2013 | Best Warrior | Keita Tosaki | Sei Ishizaka | 1:36.0 |
| 2014 | Red Alvis | Masayoshi Ebina | Takayuki Yasuda | 1:36.0 |
| 2015 | Nonkono Yume | Christophe Lemaire | Yukihiro Kato | 1:35.9 |
| 2016 | Gold Dream | Yuga Kawada | Osamu Hirata | 1:35.8[4] |
| 2017 | Sunrise Nova | Keita Tosaki | Hidetaka Otonashi | 1:35.9[5] |
| 2018 | Le Vent Se Leve | Mirco Demuro | Kiyoshi Hagiwara | 1:35.0[6] |
| 2019 | Wide Pharaoh | Yuichi Fukunaga | Katsuhiko Sumii | 1:35.5 |
| 2020 | Cafe Pharoah | Damian Lane | Noriyuki Hori | 1:34.9 |
| 2021 | Smasher | Ryusei Sakai | Tatsuya Yoshioka | 1:34.4 |
| 2022 | Peisha Es | Akira Sugawara | Kazuo Konishi | 1:35.2 |
| 2023 | Perriere | Christophe Lemaire | Mitsumasa Nakauchida | 1:35.0 |
| 2024 | Ramjet | Kousei Miura | Shozo Sasaki | 1:58.6 |
a Gold Tiara and I Am Actress were fillies
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Unicorn Stakes". Horse Racing in Japan.
- ^ "2024 JRA Racing Calendar changes" (PDF). JRA.
- ^ "３歳ダート３冠レース体系発表 24年からスタート すべてにトライアルレースを設定". Nikkan Sports.
- ^ "2016 result". Racing Post. 19 June 2016.
- ^ "2017 result". Racing Post. 18 June 2017.
- ^ "2018 result". Racing Post. 17 June 2018.
- ^ "ユニコーンS". Netkeiba.
- ^ "Unicorn Stakes". Netkeiba.