Hopeful Stakes (Japan)
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.
| Grade 1 race | |
.jpg.webp) Paddock (2016) | |
| Location | Nakayama Racecourse Funabashi, Chiba, Japan |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1984(as Radio Tanpa Hai Sansai Hinba Stakes) |
| Race type | Thoroughbred - Flat racing |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 2,000 meters (about 10 furlongs / 1.1/4 mile) |
| Surface | Turf |
| Track | Right-handed (inner course) |
| Qualification | Two-year-old, Colts & Fillies |
| Weight | Colt 55 kg, Filly 54 kg |
| Purse | ¥152,200,000 (as of 2022) 1st: ¥ 70,000,000 |
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 |
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 |