Japanese Horse of the Year
The Japanese Horse of the Year is the highest honor given to the most outstanding horse in Japanese thoroughbred horse racing. It is awarded annually by the Japan Racing Association (JRA).
Since 1987 the honor has been part of the JRA Awards. This award originally started as part of the Keishū Sha Awards in 1954 and since 1972 part of the Yūshun Awards.
Records
Most successful horse (2 wins):
- Shinzan – 1963, 1964
- Speed Symboli – 1967, 1970
- Hoyo Boy – 1980, 1981
- Symboli Rudolf – 1984, 1985
- Symboli Kris S – 2002, 2003
- Deep Impact - 2005, 2006
- Vodka – 2008, 2009
- Gentildonna – 2012, 2014
- Kitasan Black – 2016, 2017
- Almond Eye – 2018, 2020
- Equinox - 2022, 2023
Honorees
Includes honorees from 1954 to 1972, which was when the JRA Awards was called the Keishū Sha Awards.
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! width="42px" | Year ! width="145px" | Horse ! width="160px" | Trainer ! width="210px" | Owner ! Sex ! Age |
1954
|Tokichi Ogata |Hiroshi Nishi |c |4 |
1955
|Fusamatsu Okubo |Washitaro Kawaguchi |c |3 |
1956
|Tomiyoshi Fujimoto |Shinsaku Nitta |c |4 |
1957
|Tokichi Ogata |Hiroshi Nishi |c |4 |
1958
|Toshio Nihonyanagi |Junzo Kashiyama |c |4 |
1959
|Senshi Hoshikawa |Kunijiro Asano |c |3 |
1960
|Yoshigoro Ito |Bungo Takeda |c |3 |
1961
|Toshio Hieda |Fumiko Kawaguchi |c |4 |
1962
|Hiroshi Nakamura |Kishi Tamura |c |5 |
1963
|Masaharu Hashimoto |Emiko Miyoshi |c |4 |
1963
|Tokichi Ogata |Yasushi Chigira |c |3 |
1964
|Bungo Takeda |Kokichi Hashimoto |c |3 |
1965
|Shinzan |Bungo Takeda |Kokichi Hashimoto |c |4 |
1966
|Tokichi Ogata |Yasushi Chigira |c |4 |
1967
|Shozo Nohira |Tomohiro Wada |c |4 |
1968
|Hiroshi Nakamura |Genji Asaka |c |3 |
1969
|Suetaro Mitsui |Masao Obata |c |4 |
1970
|Shozo Nohira |Tomohiro Wada |c |7 |
1971
|Masayuki Sakata |Katsuo Kondo |f |5 |
1972
|Takeshi Asano |Kiyohito Ishijima |c |3 |
1973
|Yukio Inaba |Take Kondo |c |3 |
1974
|Masatoshi Hattori |Yutaka Hatsuda |c |3 |
1975
|Tamejiro Mogi |Yoshiko Kato |c |3 |
1976
|Takayoshi Yasuda |Tosho Sangyo |c |3 |
1977
|Sasuke Ogawa |Hisanari Takada |c |4 |
1978
|Shotaro Abe |Ikuko Hatakeyama |c |4 |
1979
|Takao Nakano |Kichishiro Hanzawa |c |6 |
1980
|Toshio Nihonyanagi |Yoshiharu Furukawa |c |5 |
1981
|Hoyo Boy |Toshio Nihonyanagi |Yoshiharu Furukawa |c |6 |
1982
|Hikozo Sugai |Zenkichi Hashimoto |c |5 |
1983
|Yasuhisa Matsuyama |Marunuma Onsen Hotel Co., Ltd. |c |3 |
1984
|Yuji Nohira |Symboli Bokujo |c |3 |
1985
|Symboli Rudolf |Yuji Nohira |Symboli Bokujo |c |4 |
1986
|Kichizaburo Matsuyama |Shadai Race Horse |c |3 |
1987
|Yuji Hirai |Sakura Commerce |c |3 |
1988
|Isami Obara |Tamamo Inc. |c |4 |
1989
|Kiyoshi Suzuki |Hiroki Hotehama |c |5 |
1990
|Tsutomu Setoguchi |Shunsuke Kondo |c |5 |
1991
|Shouichi Matsumoto |Masanori Uchimura |c |3 |
1992
|Tameo Toyama |Mihono International |c |3 |
1993
|Mitsumasa Hamada |Biwa Co., Ltd. |c |3 |
1994
|Masaaki Ookubo |Hidenori Yamaji |c |3 |
1995
|Masahiro Sakaguchi |Yu Tadokoro |c |3 |
1996
|Katsutaro Sakai |Sakura Commerce |c |5 |
1997
|Yuji Ito |Lucky Field Co., Ltd. |f |4 |
1998
|Taiki Farm |c |4 |
1999
|Yoshitaka Ninomiya |Takashi Watanabe |c |4 |
2000
|Ichizo Iwamoto |Masatsugu Takezono |c |4 |
2001
|Sakae Watanabe |Yomoji Saito |c |3 |
2002
|Symboli Stud |c |3 |
2003
|Symboli Kris S |Kazuo Fujisawa |Symboli Stud |c |4 |
2004
|Shinobu Osako |c |4 |
2005
|Yasuo Ikee |Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co., Ltd. |c |3 |
2006
|Deep Impact |Yasuo Ikee |Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co., Ltd. |c |4 |
2007
|Hiroyoshi Matsuda |Darley Japan Farm Co., Ltd. |c |4 |
2008
|Yuzo Tanimizu |f |4 |
2009
|Vodka |Katsuhiko Sumii |Yuzo Tanimizu |f |5 |
2010
|Hiroyoshi Matsuda |Sunday Racing Co. |f |4 |
2011
|Yasutoshi Ikee |Sunday Racing Co. |c |3 |
2012
|Sei Ishizaka |Sunday Racing Co. |f |3 |
2013
|Takayuki Yasuda |Lord Horse Club |c |5 |
2014
|Gentildonna |Sei Ishizaka |Sunday Racing Co. |f |5 |
2015
|Noriyuki Hori |Kazumi Yoshida |c |4 |
2016
|Hisashi Shimizu |Ono Shoji |c |4 |
2017
|Kitasan Black |Hisashi Shimizu |Ono Shoji |c |
2018
|Sakae Kunieda |Silk Racing Co |f |3 |
2019
|U Carrot Farm |f |
2020
|Sakae Kunieda |Silk Racing Co |f |
2021
|Yuichi Shikato |Carrot Farm Co. Ltd. |c |
2022
|Tetsuya Kimura |Silk Racing Co |c |
2023
|Equinox |Tetsuya Kimura |Silk Racing Co |c |
2024
|Yasuo Tomomichi |Kieffers Co. Ltd. |c |