Hopeful Stakes (Japan)
Grade 1 race
Paddock (2016)
LocationNakayama Racecourse
Funabashi, Chiba, Japan
Inaugurated1984(as Radio Tanpa Hai Sansai Hinba Stakes)
Race typeThoroughbred - Flat racing
Race information
Distance2,000 meters (about 10 furlongs / 1.1/4 mile)
SurfaceTurf
TrackRight-handed (inner course)
QualificationTwo-year-old, Colts & Fillies
WeightColt 55 kg, Filly 54 kg
Purse¥152,200,000 (as of 2023)
1st: ¥ 70,000,000

The Hopeful Stakes (ホープフルステークス) is the only Grade 1 middle-distance race for two-year-old thoroughbreds in the JRA. This race was started as the Radio Tampa Hai Sansai Hinba Stakes (Grade 3), a mile race that was held at Hanshin Racecourse for two-year-old fillies. In 1991, not fillies but colts were allowed to run, with the distance extended to the current 2,000 meters. Its name was changed several times (Radio Tampa Hai Sansai Stakes (1991-2000), Radio Tampa Hai Nisai Stakes (2001-2005) and Radio Nikkei Hai Nisai Stakes (2006-2013)). This race was considered important because no other graded race over 2,000 meters for two-year-olds existed in those days. In particular, it was a good chance for horses with ambition for Triple Crown Races to experience a middle-distance race. In fact, some triple crown race winners had previously won this race. Logi Universe (2008) and One and Only (2013) won the Japanese Derby, Victoire Pisa (also Dubai World Cup winner) (2009) won the Satsuki Shō, and Epiphaneia (2012) won the Kikuka Shō.

In 2014, the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes, a grade 1 race for two-year-old colts previously held at Nakayama Racecourse, was moved to Hanshin Racecourse. Then the Radio Nikkei Hai Nisai Stakes was moved to Nakayama Racecourse. With this transfer, its name was changed to Hopeful Stakes, and the grade of the race was elevated to Grade 2. The race was promoted to Grade 1 level in 2017.

The winner in 2016, Rey de Oro, became the Japanese Derby winner in 2017. Contrail, who won the race in 2019, became the winner of the Triple Crown in 2020.

Until 2016, this race was held on Arima Kinen day. But since 2017, it was moved to December 28, which is the final day of the JRA racing season.

Winners since 2014

Year
 Winner
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Time
2014 Shining Lei Yuga Kawada Tomokazu Takano U Carrot Farm 2:01.9
2015 Hartley Hugh Bowman Takahisa Tezuka Sunday Racing 2:01.8
2016 Rey de Oro Christophe Lemaire Kazuo Fujisawa U Carrot Farm 2:01.3
2017 Time Flyer Cristian Demuro Kunihide Matsuda Sunday Racing 2:01.4
2018 Saturnalia Mirco Demuro Kazuya Nakatake U Carrot Farm 2:01.6
2019 Contrail Yuichi Fukunaga Yoshito Yahagi Shinji Maeda 2:01.4
2020 Danon The Kid Yuga Kawada Takayuki Yasuda Danox 2:02.8
2021 Killer Ability Takeshi Yokoyama Takashi Saito Carrot Farm Co. Ltd. 2:00.6
2022 Dura Erede Bauyrzhan Murzabayev Manabu Ikezoe Three H Racing 2:01.5
2023 Regaleira Christophe Lemaire Tetsuya Kimura Sunday Racing 2:00.2

Winners during the Radio Tampa Hai Sansai Himba Stakes era

Year
 Winner
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Time
1984 Nihon Pillow Vicky Hiroshi Kawachi Kotaro Tanaka Hyakutaro Kobayashi 1:35:9
1985 Dyna Campari Hiroshi Higuchi Mitsumasa Hamada Shadai Race Horse 1:37:1
1986 Dokanjo Nobuyuki Tajima Yasuo Ikee Arai Kogyo 1:35:5
1987 Princess Ski Yoshiyasu Tajima Kota Tanaka Kiyoharu Okuyama 1:36.6
1988 Tanino Target Sadahiro Kojima Tameo Toyama Yuzo Tanimizu 1:36.1
1989 Legacy Wice Yutaka Take Masahiro Sakaguchi Horse Tajima 1:35.8
1990 Isono Roubles Tadashi Igarashi Hisao Shimizu Toshio Isono 1:35:0

Winners during the Radio Tampa Hai Sansai Stakes era

Year
 Winner
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Time
1991 Northern Contact Shinji Fujita Shuji Ito Shadai Race Horse 2:05:9
1992 Narita Taishin Eiji Shimizu Masaaki Okubo Hidenori Yamaji 2:05.8
1993 Namura Kokuo Hiroyuki Uemura Akihiko Nomura Nobushige Namura 2:05.7
1994 Tayasu Tsuyoshi Sadahiro Kojima Akio Tsurudome Kanichi Yokose 2:03.4
1995 Royal Touch Olivier Peslier Yuji Ito Yoshimi Ota 2:02.7
1996 Mejiro Bright Mikio Matsunaga Kuniichi Asami Mejiro Farm 2:03.1
1997 Lord Ax Yukio Okabe Kazuo Fujisawa Lord Horse Club 2:03.8
1998 Admire Vega Yutaka Take Mitsuru Hashida Riichi Kondo 2:04.1
1999 Rugger Regulus Tetsuzo Sato Masaaki Okubo Keiji Okumura 2:03:7
2000 Agnes Tachyon Hiroshi Kawachi Hiroyuki Nagahama Takao Watanabe 2:00.8

Winners during the Radio Tampa Hai Nisai Stakes era

Year
 Winner
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Time
2001 Mega Stardom Kunihiko Watanabe Shoji Yamamoto North Hills Management 2:03.4
2002 That's the Plenty Hiroshi Kawachi Kojiro Hashiguchi Shadai Race Horse 2:04.5
2003 Cosmo Bulk Fuyuki Igarashi Kazunori Tabe Misako Okada 2:01.6
2004 Vermillion Yutaka Take Sei Ishisaka Sunday Racing 2:03.5
2005 Sakura Mega Wonder Katsumi Ando Yasuo Tomomichi Sakura Commerce 2:01.9

Winners during the Radio NIKKEI Hai Nisai Stakes era

Year
 Winner
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Time
2006 Fusaichi Ho O Katsumi Ando Kunihide Matsuda Fusao Sekiguchi 2:02:1
2007 Subject Olivier Peslier Yasuo Ikee North Hills Management 2:07:0
2008 Logi Universe Norihiro Yokoyama Kiyoshi Hagiwara Masaaki Kumeta 2:01:7
2009 Victoire Pisa Yutaka Take Katsuhiko Sumii Yoshimi Ichikawa 2:01:3
2010 Danon Ballade Yutaka Take Yasuo Ikee Danox 2:02:2
2011 Adam Speak Christophe Lemaire Sei Ishisaka Carrot Farm Co. Ltd. 2:02:4
2012 Epiphaneia Yuichi Fukunaga Katsuhiko Sumii Carrot Farm Co. Ltd. 2:05:4
2013 One and Only Christophe Lemaire Kojiro Hashiguchi North Hills 2:04.3

See also

References

  1. ^ "ホープフルS". Netkeiba.
  2. ^ "Hopeful Stakes". Netkeiba.

External links


List of Japanese Grade I horse races
Categories