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2027 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 127%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £127 which is bet.
Below you will find the 2027 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
- Croix Du Nord (3:13.70) in 2026
- Redentor (3:14.00) in 2025
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 7 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of -2.80. Remember you can get daily racing predictions from the expert tipsters on the racing predictions page.
Over the last 10 renewals, it was Kitasan Black, trained by Hisashi Shimizu and ridden by Yutaka Take, who set the fastest winning time in the Tenno Sho (Spring). That runner won the race in a time of 3:12.50 in 2017. At the other end of the scale, it was the combination of trainer Takahisa Tezuka and jockey Christophe-Patrice Lemaire with Fierement who set the slowest winning time; the race-winning time was 3:16.50 in the 2020 renewal.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 3:13.70 | Croix Du Nord (JPN) 4yo 9-2 (7 of 15) 4/5F | Yuichi Kitamura Takashi Saito (JPN) |
| 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) |
2026 Tenno Sho (Spring) Replay
Tenno Sho (Spring) Trainer Statistics
The leading trainer in the Tenno Sho (Spring) over the last 10 renewals is Takahisa Tezuka, who has won the race twice, with those two winners coming from Fierement (2019 & 2020).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Takahisa Tezuka | 4-2-2 | +0.80 | -0.32 |
| Yasuo Tomomichi | 13-1-4 | -7.80 | -8.20 |
| Haruki Sugiyama | 4-1-1 | +0.30 | -1.35 |
| Tetsuya Kimura | 3-1-1 | +0.10 | -0.74 |
| Hisashi Shimizu | 3-1-1 | -0.80 | -1.40 |
| Hidekazu Asami | 2-1-1 | +4.00 | +1.50 |
| Toru Kurita | 2-1-1 | +2.90 | +0.95 |
| Inao Okada | 2-1-2 | +0.80 | +0.40 |
| Takashi Saito | 2-1-1 | -0.20 | -0.52 |
| Yasutoshi Ikee | 8-0-2 | -8.00 | -7.00 |
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).
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 | 8-1-3 | -5.80 | -4.33 |
| Yuichi Kitamura | 5-1-3 | -3.20 | +6.78 |
| Yasunari Iwata | 4-1-1 | +2.00 | -0.50 |
| Yuichi Fukunaga | 4-1-2 | +1.20 | -0.40 |
| Kazuo Yokoyama | 4-1-1 | +0.90 | -1.05 |
| Damian Lane | 3-1-2 | +0.10 | -0.24 |
| Yuji Hishida | 2-1-2 | +0.80 | +0.40 |
| Ryuji Wada | 8-0-3 | -8.00 | -6.50 |
| Hideaki Miyuki | 7-0-1 | -7.00 | -6.50 |
2027 Tenno Sho (Spring) Trends
Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, PU, (1, 15), 1, 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 (15%) - No bigger than 5/1
- 10 / 10 (19%) - Within the first 3 of the market
- 10 / 10 (19%) - Achieved an RPR of 116+ (LTO)
- 10 / 10 (31%) - Highest Placed is G1
- 10 / 10 (31%) - Had 1 - 8 placings (Class)
- 10 / 10 (49%) - Carried 123 - 128lbs (Last Win)
- 10 / 10 (52%) - Not in a LST/Cl2 (Last Win)
- 10 / 10 (54%) - Highest Won is not LST/Cl2
- 10 / 10 (58%) - In a field of 11 - 18 (Last Win)
- 10 / 10 (60%) - No bigger than 87/5 (LTO)
- 10 / 10 (66%) - No bigger than 169/10 (Career Win)
- 10 / 10 (68%) - No bigger than 27/2 (Last Win)
- 10 / 10 (68%) - Ran over 1m - 1m2f (Debut)
- 10 / 10 (74%) - Highest Run is G1
- 10 / 10 (79%) - No older than a 6yo
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101 Ways to find Winners in Horse Racing
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:
- 2026: Winner in 7 (15,3) [15 Runners]
- 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]
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 146 runners, while female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 14 runners.
Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Tenno Sho (Spring); that stallion, Deep Impact, has produced 4 winners (2023,2021,2020,2019).
These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Tenno Sho (Spring) despite multiple attempts:
- Hearts Cry (0 Wins from 17 runners)
- Orfevre (0 Wins from 13 runners)
- King Kamehameha (0 Wins from 12 runners)
- Kizuna (0 Wins from 8 runners)
- Gold Ship (0 Wins from 7 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 6 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 |
|---|---|
| 2026 - Croix Du Nord Hanshin - 1st of 15 (6/4) | Osaka Hai |
| 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 |
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.
