Ōsaka Hai

Osaka Hai

Grade 2 race
Aerial Photo at the Hanshin Racecourse
Location	Hanshin Racecourse, Takarazuka, Hyogo
Inaugurated	1957
Race type	Thoroughbred Flat racing
Race information
Distance	2000 metres
Surface	Turf
Track	Right-handed
Qualification	4-y-o +, Colts & Fillies
Weight	56kg. Fillies & mares allowed 2kg.
Purse	¥67,000,000 (winner) ¥145,120,000 (total)

The Ōsaka Hai (japanese 大阪杯) is a Grade 2 horse race in for Thoroughbred colts and fillies aged four and over run over a distance of 2,000 metres at Tokyo Racecourse. The race is also known as the Sankei Osaka Hai and the Osaka Cup.

The race is run in late March or early April and serves as a trial race for the spring edition of the Tenno Sho.^[1]

It was first run in 1957 over 1800 metres. The distance was increased to 1900 metres in 1966 before the race was run over its current distance for the first time in 1972.

Among the winners of the race have been Katsuragi Ace, Tokai Teio, Mejiro McQueen, Air Groove, Neo Universe, Meisho Samson, Daiwa Scarlet, Orfevre and Kizuna.

Records

Speed record:

• 1:57.8 Hiruno d'Amour 2011

Most successful horse (2 wins):

• Sunrise Pegasus – 2002, 2005

Winners since 1992

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Time
1992	Tokai Teio	4	Yukio Okabe	Shoichi Matsumoto	2:06.3
1993	Mejiro McQueen	6	Yutaka Take	Yasuo Ikee	2:03.3
1994	Nehai Caesar	4	Katsumi Shiomura	Tadashi Fuse	2:01.2
1995	Inter My Way	5	Mikio Matsunaga	Hitoshi Nakamura	1:59.3
1996	Taiki Blizzard	5	Yukio Okabe	Kazuo Fujisawa	2:00.7
1997	Marvelous Sunday	5	Yutaka Take	Makoto Osawa	2:02.0
1998	Air Groove	5	Yutaka Take	Yuji Ito	2:01.3
1999	Silent Hunter	6	Yutaka Yoshida	Yokichi Okubo	1:59.9
2000	Meisho Odo	5	Yuji Iida	Ahihiro Iida	2:00.8
2001	Toho Dream	4	Katsumi Ando	Yoshiyasu Tajima	1:58.4
2002	Sunrise Pegasus	4	Katsumi Ando	Sei Ishizaka	1:59.1
2003	Tagano My Bach	4	Katsumi Ando	Hiroyoshi Matsuda	1:59.1
2004	Neo Universe	4	Mirco Demuro	Tsutomo Setoguchi	1:59.6
2005	Sunrise Pegasus	7	Hideaki Miyuki	Sei Ishizaka	1:59.0
2006	Company	5	Yuichi Fukunaga	Hidetaki Otonashi	2:04.5
2007	Meisho Samson	4	Mamoru Ishibashi	Shigetada Takahashi	2:01.4
2008	Daiwa Scarlet	4	Katsumi Ando	Kunihide Matsuda	1:58.7
2009	Dream Journey	5	Kenichi Ikezoe	Yasutoshi Ikee	1:59.7
2010	T M Encore	6	Suguru Hamanaka	Masami Shibata	1:59.5
2011	Hiruno d'Amour	4	Shinji Fujita	Mitsugu Kon	1:57.8
2012	Shonan Mighty	4	Suguru Hamanaka	Tomoyuki Umeda	2:05.5
2013	Orfevre	5	Kenichi Ikezoe	Yasutoshi Ikee	1:59.0
2014	Kizuna	4	Yutaka Take	Shozo Sasaki	2:00.3
2015	Lachesis	5	Christophe Lemaire	Katsuhiko Sumii	2:02.9
2016	Ambitious	4	Norihiro Yokoyama	Hidetaka Otonashi	1:59.3

Earlier winners

• 1957 - Homare Ichi
• 1958 - Katsura Homare
• 1959 - Kiyo Sugata
• 1960 - Wildeal
• 1961 - Kodame
• 1962 - Sugihime
• 1963 - Ryu Z
• 1964 - Tetsuno O
• 1965 - Young Hero
• 1966 - Ballymoss Nisei
• 1967 - Ryu Pharos
• 1968 - Yama Pit
• 1969 - Date Horai
• 1970 - Shunsaku O
• 1971 - Tokino Shin O
• 1972 - Kei Takashi
• 1973 - Takuma O
• 1974 - Nihon Pillow Moutiers
• 1975 - Sky Leader
• 1976 - Long Hawk
• 1977 - Gold Eagle
• 1978 - King Lanark
• 1979 - Metro Jumbo
• 1980 - Hashi Kranz
• 1981 - Sancy Doll
• 1982 - Sanei Tholon
• 1983 - Hikari Duel
• 1984 - Katsuragi Ace
• 1985 - State Jaguar
• 1986 - Sakura Yutaka O
• 1987 - Nishino Raiden
• 1988 - Fresh Voice
• 1989 - Yaeno Muteki
• 1990 - Super Creek
• 1991 - White Stone

References

1. "Sankei Osaka Hai (G2)". japanracing.jp.