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2026 Tenno Sho (Spring) Preview
Taking place at the Kyoto racecourse each May is the Spring Tenno Sho, the first of the Tenno Sho races, with another version being run later in the year in Autumn. Open to runners who are aged four or older, the race is run over a distance of 3,200m (2m) and is a Grade 1.
Established in 1938, Hase Park won the first-ever race, and this can be a quick run race considering it is run over two miles. Deep Impact, when winning the 2006 renewal, set the world record for the quickest two-mile race, a record that stood until 2017.
Tenno Sho (Spring) Information:
- Tenno Sho (Spring) Past Winners
- Tenno Sho (Spring) Trainer Statistics
- Tenno Sho (Spring) Jockey Statistics
You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information. Head down to the Other Principal Races in Japan section for links to these.
Best Horse Racing Betting Sites 2026
How competitive is the Tenno Sho (Spring) market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 10 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2025, when the race had an over-round of 121%. The race in 2023 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 Tenno Sho (Spring), the over-round has been 126%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £126 which is bet.
Below you will find the 2026 Tenno Sho (Spring) 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 Tenno Sho (Spring) Trend Analysis.
These are the top three quickest-run Tenno Sho (Spring) races over the last 10 renewals:
- Kitasan Black (3:12.50) in 2017
- Redentor (3:14.00) in 2025
- T O Royal (3:14.20) 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 Tenno Sho (Spring) next time out, then you would have backed a total of 1 winner. Backing all 8 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of -3.80. 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 3:12.50 was set by Kitasan Black in 2017, trained by Hisashi Shimizu and ridden by Yutaka Take, which is the quickest time over that period. The slowest winning time was set in 2020 when Fierement won in a time of 3:16.50 for trainer Takahisa Tezuka, who booked Christophe-Patrice Lemaire in the saddle.
Tenno Sho (Spring) Past Winners
Here are the Tenno Sho (Spring) past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the race year, the winning horse, 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 Tenno Sho (Spring) are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.
| Year | Horse (Drawn) | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 3:14.00 | Redentor (JPN) 4yo 9-2 (6 of 15) 21/10F | Damian Lane Tetsuya Kimura (JPN) |
| 2024 3:14.20 | T O Royal (JPN) 6yo 9-2 (13 of 17) 9/5F | Yuji Hishida Inao Okada (JPN) |
| 2023 3:16.10 | Justin Palace (JPN) 4yo 9-2 (1 of 17) 33/10 | Christophe-Patrice Lemaire Haruki Sugiyama (JPN) |
| 2022 3:16.20 | Titleholder (JPN) 4yo 9-2 (16 of 18) 39/10 | Kazuo Yokoyama Toru Kurita (JPN) |
| 2021 3:14.70 | World Premiere (JPN) 5yo 9-2 (1 of 17) 42/10 | Yuichi Fukunaga Yasuo Tomomichi (JPN) |
| 2020 3:16.50 | Fierement (JPN) 5yo 9-2 (14 of 14) 1/1F | Christophe-Patrice Lemaire Takahisa Tezuka (JPN) |
| 2019 3:15.00 | Fierement (JPN) 4yo 9-2 (10 of 13) 9/5F | Christophe-Patrice Lemaire Takahisa Tezuka (JPN) |
| 2018 3:16.20 | Rainbow Line (JPN) 5yo 9-2 (12 of 17) 5/1 | Yasunari Iwata Hidekazu Asami (JPN) |
| 2017 3:12.50 | Kitasan Black (JPN) 5yo 9-2 (3 of 17) 6/5F | Yutaka Take Hisashi Shimizu (JPN) |
| 2016 3:15.30 | Kitasan Black (JPN) 4yo 9-2 (1 of 18) 7/2 | Yutaka Take Hisashi Shimizu (JPN) |
2025 Tenno Sho (Spring) Replay
Tenno Sho (Spring) Trainer Statistics
There are two leading trainers in the Tenno Sho (Spring) over the last 10 renewals, with both Hisashi Shimizu and Takahisa Tezuka, who have both won the race twice. Hisashi Shimizu's winners have been with Kitasan Black (2016 & 2017). Takahisa Tezuka winners have been with Fierement (2019 & 2020). One trainer has not had the best of times in the Tenno Sho (Spring); Yasutoshi Ikee has sent a total of 10 runners to the race without recording a win.
Here are some of the top Tenno Sho (Spring) 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hisashi Shimizu | 4-2-2 | +2.70 | +0.35 |
| Takahisa Tezuka | 4-2-2 | +0.80 | -0.32 |
| Yasuo Tomomichi | 13-1-4 | -7.80 | -8.40 |
| Haruki Sugiyama | 4-1-1 | +0.30 | -1.35 |
| Hidekazu Asami | 2-1-1 | +4.00 | +1.50 |
| Toru Kurita | 2-1-1 | +2.90 | +0.95 |
| Tetsuya Kimura | 2-1-1 | +1.10 | +0.26 |
| Inao Okada | 2-1-2 | +0.80 | +0.40 |
| Yasutoshi Ikee | 10-0-2 | -10.00 | -9.00 |
| Ryuji Okubo | 6-0-4 | -6.00 | -4.00 |
Tenno Sho (Spring) Jockey Statistics
The leading jockey in the Tenno Sho (Spring) over the last 10 renewals is Christophe-Patrice Lemaire, who has won the race three times, with those three winners coming from Fierement (2019 & 2020) and Justin Palace (2023). The only other jockey to have recorded multiple wins in the Tenno Sho (Spring) is Yutaka Take (2 wins).
Here are some of the top Tenno Sho (Spring) 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christophe-Patrice Lemaire | 8-3-4 | +1.10 | -1.17 |
| Yutaka Take | 8-2-3 | -1.30 | -2.28 |
| Yasunari Iwata | 5-1-1 | +1.00 | -1.50 |
| Yuichi Fukunaga | 5-1-3 | +0.20 | -0.90 |
| Kazuo Yokoyama | 4-1-1 | +0.90 | -1.05 |
| Damian Lane | 2-1-2 | +1.10 | +0.76 |
| Yuji Hishida | 2-1-2 | +0.80 | +0.40 |
| Ryuji Wada | 9-0-3 | -9.00 | -7.50 |
| Kenichi Ikezoe | 7-0-1 | -7.00 | -6.50 |
| Hideaki Miyuki | 7-0-1 | -7.00 | -6.50 |
2026 Tenno Sho (Spring) Trends
Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 12, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, PU, (1, 15), 1
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 (14%) - No bigger than 5/1
- 10 / 10 (18%) - Within the first 3 of the market
- 10 / 10 (20%) - Achieved an RPR of 116+ (LTO)
- 10 / 10 (23%) - Furthest Won 1m7f - 2m1f
- 10 / 10 (33%) - Highest Placed is G1
- 10 / 10 (33%) - Had 1 - 8 placings (Class)
- 10 / 10 (50%) - Carried 123 - 128lbs (Last Win)
- 10 / 10 (54%) - Not in a LST/Cl2 (Last Win)
- 10 / 10 (56%) - Highest Won is not LST/Cl2
- 10 / 10 (61%) - In a field of 11 - 18 (Last Win)
- 10 / 10 (63%) - No bigger than 87/5 (LTO)
- 10 / 10 (66%) - Ran over 1m - 1m2f (Debut)
- 10 / 10 (68%) - No bigger than 169/10 (Career Win)
- 10 / 10 (69%) - No bigger than 27/2 (Last Win)
- 10 / 10 (77%) - No older than a 6yo
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Tenno Sho (Spring) Trend Analysis
❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 0 career places in the class, when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-110.
Here are the most recent winning draws, along with the further placings in brackets:
- 2025: Winner in 6 (14,8) [15 Runners]
- 2024: Winner in 13 (4,5) [17 Runners]
- 2023: Winner in 1 (7,16) [17 Runners]
- 2022: Winner in 16 (18,7) [18 Runners]
- 2021: Winner in 1 (12,3) [17 Runners]
The course which has produced the most winners of the Tenno Sho (Spring) is Hanshin; there have been a total of 5 winners of this race who ran at Hanshin last time out. The next best course, which has produced the second most winners, is Nakayama; there have been a total of 4 winners of this race who ran at Nakayama last time out.
The race is open to both sexes, with male runners having produced a total of 10 winners from a total of 152 runners, while female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 11 runners.
Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Tenno Sho (Spring):
- Deep Impact (4 Wins)
- Black Tide (2 Wins)
These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Tenno Sho (Spring) despite multiple attempts:
- Hearts Cry (0 Wins from 20 runners)
- King Kamehameha (0 Wins from 14 runners)
- Orfevre (0 Wins from 13 runners)
- Kizuna (0 Wins from 7 runners)
- Admire Don (0 Wins from 5 runners)
Looking at the winning odds over the last 10 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Rainbow Line in 2018, winning for Hidekazu Asami at odds of 5/1 under the guidance of Yasunari Iwata. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 10 renewals, there have been 5 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 Tenno Sho (Spring)
Many trainers target races as preparation for the Tenno Sho (Spring). These are the races which the recent winners ran in before coming here:
| Info | Last Race |
|---|---|
| 2025 - Redentor Tokyo - 1st of 16 (19/10) | Diamond Stakes |
| 2024 - T O Royal Hanshin - 1st of 15 (33/10) | Hanshin Daishoten |
| 2023 - Justin Palace Hanshin - 1st of 14 (31/10) | Hanshin Daishoten |
| 2022 - Titleholder Nakayama - 1st of 15 (8/5) | Nikkei Sho |
| 2021 - World Premiere Nakayama - 3rd of 15 (4/1) | Nikkei Sho |
| 2020 - Fierement Nakayama - 4th of 16 (92/5) | Arima Kinen |
| 2019 - Fierement Nakayama - 2nd of 11 (17/10) | American Jockey Club Cup |
| 2018 - Rainbow Line Hanshin - 1st of 11 (28/5) | Hanshin Daishoten |
| 2017 - Kitasan Black Hanshin - 1st of 14 (7/5) | Osaka Hai |
| 2016 - Kitasan Black Hanshin - 2nd of 11 (31/5) | Sankei Osaka Hai |
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 Tenno Sho (Spring) 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
Other Principal Races in Japan
Here are some other notable races throughout Japan which take place during the racing season that we also have blogs for.
