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2026 Oka Sho Preview
The Oka Sho is a Grade 1 race in Japan, which is the Japanese 1,000 Guineas and takes place at the Hanshin racetrack in April of each year and carries a purse of over £1.5 million.
Established in 1939, the race, like the English equivalent, is restricted to three-year-old fillies. It is contested over 1,600m (one mile) on the outer turf course.
There are three trial races for this: the Tulip Sho and the Fillies' Revue, which are both run here at Hanshin and where the top three finishes get spots, and the Anemone Stakes, run at Nakayama, where the top two are eligible for a place in this race.
The top five from this race get an automatic entry into the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks), and Almond Eye (2018), Daring Tact (2020), Stars On Earth (2022), and Liberty Island (2023) have all recently done the double.
Oka Sho Information:
Best Horse Racing Betting Sites 2026
How competitive is the Oka Sho market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 10 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2023, when the race had an over-round of 126%. The race in 2017 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 129%, whilst on average over the last 10 renewals of the Oka Sho, the over-round has been 127%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £127 which is bet.
Below you will find the 2026 Oka Sho Trends. See which patterns have occurred over the recent renewals that you may be able to use for the next renewal. We also have a section that looks at the Oka Sho Trend Analysis.
These are the top three quickest-run Oka Sho races over the last 10 renewals:
- Sodashi (1:31.10) in 2021
- Liberty Island (1:32.10) in 2023
- Stellenbosch (1:32.20) in 2024
Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? Over the past 10 renewals, if you had followed the winner of the Oka Sho next time out, then you would have backed a total of 4 winners. Backing all 10 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of +1.20. Remember you can get daily racing predictions from the expert tipsters on the racing predictions page.
When looking over the past 10 renewals, a time of 1:31.10 was set by Sodashi in 2021, trained by Naosuke Sugai and ridden by Hayato Yoshida, which is the quickest time over that period. The slowest winning time was set in 2020 when Daring Tact won in a time of 1:36.10 for trainer Haruki Sugiyama, who booked Kohei Matsuyama in the saddle.
Oka Sho Past Winners
Here are the Oka Sho past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse that won, and the horse's age & weight. Also detailed is the stall from which the horse came and the total number of runners in the race. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the Oka Sho are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.
| Year | Horse (Drawn) | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 1:33.10 | Embroidery (JPN) 3yo 8-9 (7 of 18) 4/1 | Joao Moreira Kazutomo Mori (JPN) |
| 2024 1:32.20 | Stellenbosch (JPN) 3yo 8-9 (12 of 18) 33/10 | Joao Moreira Sakae Kunieda (JPN) |
| 2023 1:32.10 | Liberty Island (JPN) 3yo 8-9 (3 of 18) 3/5F | Yuga Kawada Mitsumasa Nakauchida (JPN) |
| 2022 1:32.90 | Stars On Earth (JPN) 3yo 8-9 (8 of 18) 135/10 | Yuga Kawada Mizuki Takayanagi (JPN) |
| 2021 1:31.10 | Sodashi (JPN) 3yo 8-9 (4 of 18) 13/5 | Hayato Yoshida Naosuke Sugai (JPN) |
| 2020 1:36.10 | Daring Tact (JPN) 3yo 8-9 (9 of 18) 16/5 | Kohei Matsuyama Haruki Sugiyama (JPN) |
| 2019 1:32.70 | Gran Alegria (JPN) 3yo 8-9 (8 of 18) 12/5 | Christophe-Patrice Lemaire Kazuo Fujisawa (JPN) |
| 2018 1:33.10 | Almond Eye (JPN) 3yo 8-9 (13 of 17) 29/10 | Christophe-Patrice Lemaire Sakae Kunieda (JPN) |
| 2017 1:34.50 | Reine Minoru (JPN) 3yo 8-9 (10 of 17) 40/1 | Kenichi Ikezoe Masaru Honda (JPN) |
| 2016 1:33.40 | Jeweler (JPN) 3yo 8-9 (13 of 18) 4/1 | Mirco Demuro Kenichi Fujioka (JPN) |
2025 Oka Sho Replay
Oka Sho Trainer Statistics
The leading trainer in the Oka Sho over the last 10 renewals is Sakae Kunieda, who has won the race two times, with those two winners coming from Almond Eye (2018) and Stellenbosch (2024).
Here are some of the top Oka Sho trainer statistics over the last 10 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):
| Trainer | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sakae Kunieda | 7-2-3 | +1.20 | -1.40 |
| Kenichi Fujioka | 6-1-2 | -1.00 | -2.50 |
| Mitsumasa Nakauchida | 6-1-1 | -4.40 | -4.70 |
| Masaru Honda | 4-1-1 | +37.00 | +17.00 |
| Naosuke Sugai | 4-1-1 | -0.40 | -1.70 |
| Kazuo Fujisawa | 4-1-2 | -0.60 | -1.30 |
| Mizuki Takayanagi | 3-1-1 | +11.50 | +4.75 |
| Haruki Sugiyama | 3-1-1 | +1.20 | -0.40 |
| Kazutomo Mori | 1-1-1 | +4.00 | +2.00 |
| Hideaki Fujiwara | 7-0-0 | -7.00 | -7.00 |
Oka Sho Jockey Statistics
There are multiple leading jockeys in the Oka Sho over the last 10 renewals, with Yuga Kawada, Christophe-Patrice Lemaire, and Joao Moreira having all won the race two times. Yuga Kawada winners have been with Stars On Earth (2022) and Liberty Island (2023). Christophe-Patrice Lemaire winners have been with Almond Eye (2018) and Gran Alegria (2019). Joao Moreira's winners have been with Stellenbosch (2024) and Embroidery (2025).
Here are some of the top Oka Sho jockey statistics over the last 10 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):
| Jockey | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yuga Kawada | 10-2-3 | +6.10 | -0.45 |
| Christophe-Patrice Lemaire | 8-2-4 | -0.70 | -2.35 |
| Joao Moreira | 2-2-2 | +7.30 | +3.65 |
| Kenichi Ikezoe | 9-1-2 | +32.00 | +12.50 |
| Mirco Demuro | 9-1-2 | -4.00 | -5.50 |
| Kohei Matsuyama | 7-1-1 | -2.80 | -4.40 |
| Hayato Yoshida | 3-1-1 | +0.60 | -0.70 |
| Yutaka Take | 9-0-3 | -9.00 | -7.50 |
| Yuichi Fukunaga | 7-0-2 | -7.00 | -6.00 |
| Yuichi Kitamura | 7-0-1 | -7.00 | -6.50 |
2026 Oka Sho Trends
Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 4, 3, 2, 4, 2, 2, 10, 1, 2, 5
The percentage shown is the proportion of runners who fell under that factor. High percentages are less appealing than lower ones, as you would expect them to do well. The trend information is based on the available information on the Racing Post in terms of previous runs, etc.
- 10 / 10 (45%) - Within the first 8 of the market
- 10 / 10 (51%) - No bigger than 40/1
- 10 / 10 (81%) - Placed within last 1 starts
- 10 / 10 (89%) - Not BL/BR/GR in colour
- 9 / 10 (40%) - No bigger than 77/10 (Career)
- 9 / 10 (42%) - Beaten no more -a neck (Debut)
- 9 / 10 (51%) - Highest Placed is not G2/LST/Cl2
- 9 / 10 (53%) - No bigger than 77/10 (LTO)
- 9 / 10 (65%) - Furthest Placed 1m - 1m1f
- 9 / 10 (65%) - Highest Run is not G2/LST/Cl2
- 9 / 10 (69%) - Break of 27 - 118 days (Last Place)
- 9 / 10 (70%) - Beaten no more -2½l (LTO)
- 9 / 10 (79%) - Not in a G2/LST (Debut)
- 9 / 10 (85%) - In a field of 11 - 18 (LTO)
- 9 / 10 (86%) - Not in a LST/Cl2 (LTO)
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Oka Sho Trend Analysis
✅ The trend factor, which has produced 5+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +24.90, is when runners had 1 career place in the class.
❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 1 career place with the jockey, when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-69.
Here are the most recent winning draws, along with the further placings in brackets:
- 2025: Winner in 7 (9,12) [18 Runners]
- 2024: Winner in 12 (9,11) [18 Runners]
- 2023: Winner in 3 (9,14) [18 Runners]
- 2022: Winner in 8 (6,1) [18 Runners]
- 2021: Winner in 4 (18,2) [18 Runners]
The course which has produced the most winners of the Oka Sho is Hanshin; there have been a total of 6 winners of this race who ran at Hanshin last time out.
Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Oka Sho:
- Duramente (2 Wins)
- Epiphaneia (2 Wins)
These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Oka Sho despite multiple attempts:
- Kizuna (0 Wins from 12 runners)
- Harbinger (0 Wins from 8 runners)
- Hearts Cry (0 Wins from 7 runners)
- Just A Way (0 Wins from 5 runners)
- Rulership (0 Wins from 5 runners)
Looking at the winning odds over the last 10 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Reine Minoru in 2017, winning for Masaru Honda at odds of 40/1 under the guidance of Kenichi Ikezoe. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 10 renewals, there have been 1 winning favourites in the race. All figures and trends above, such as the horse's previous runs, are based on the information that is available on the Racing Post.
Route to the Oka Sho
Many trainers target races as preparation for the Oka Sho. These are the races which the recent winners ran in before coming here:
| Info | Last Race |
|---|---|
| 2025 - Embroidery Tokyo - 1st of 14 (49/10) | Daily Hai Queen Cup |
| 2024 - Stellenbosch Hanshin - 2nd of 18 (87/10) | Hanshin Juvenile Fillies |
| 2023 - Liberty Island Hanshin - 1st of 18 (8/5) | Hanshin Juvenile Fillies |
| 2022 - Stars On Earth Tokyo - 2nd of 16 (12/5) | Daily Hai Queen Cup |
| 2021 - Sodashi Hanshin - 1st of 18 (11/5) | Hanshin Juvenile Fillies |
| 2020 - Daring Tact | No Previous Runs |
| 2019 - Gran Alegria Hanshin - 3rd of 15 (1/2) | Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes |
| 2018 - Almond Eye Kyoto - 1st of 11 (29/10) | Shinzan Kinen |
| 2017 - Reine Minoru Hanshin - 2nd of 18 (4/5) | Hochi Hai Fillies Revue |
| 2016 - Jeweler Hanshin - 2nd of 16 (1/1) | Tulip Sho |
Article Contributor Information
We are fortunate to have an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to the creation and maintenance of this Oka Sho Preview are Andy and James. They both work on the Horse Racing Tips team, overseeing the tipsters and managing the tip settlement, while also creating and managing all the horse racing event previews for International racing.
James Banting
Expert Guide
Andy Powell
Expert Guide
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