# List of winners of Japanese Thoroughbred Triple Crown races
The Japanese Thoroughbred Triple Crown is a set of three Classic races for three-year-old Thoroughbreds organized by the Japan Racing Association (JRA): the Satsuki Sho (皐月賞), the Tokyo Yushun (東京優駿, the Japanese Derby), and the Kikuka Sho (菊花賞). The JRA established the program with the aim of creating a systemized series that emulates the Triple Crown series run in Britain[1](https://japanracing.jp/_news2025/pdf/250601.pdf). A parallel series for three-year-old fillies, the Japanese Triple Tiara, consists of the Oka Sho, the [Yushun Himba](https://www.edgepedia.org/yushun-himba) (Japanese Oaks), and the Shuka Sho[2](https://en.netkeiba.com/library/detail.html?no=111).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Classic Triple Crown legs | Satsuki Sho, Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), Kikuka Sho, for three-year-old colts and fillies[1](https://japanracing.jp/_news2025/pdf/250601.pdf) • [3](https://www.jra.go.jp/keiba/g1/derby.html) |
| Derby conditions | Tokyo racecourse, 2,400 m on turf, 3-year-old open (colts and fillies)[3](https://www.jra.go.jp/keiba/g1/derby.html) |
| Kikuka Sho conditions | Japanese St. Leger, JPN G1, 3,000 m on turf[4](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jes/18/2/18_2_47/_pdf) |
| Latest Classic Triple Crown winner | Contrail, following his sire Deep Impact[1](https://japanracing.jp/_news2025/pdf/250601.pdf) |
| Undefeated winners | Deep Impact (2005) won the Triple Crown without defeat; Contrail is also recorded as an unbeaten winner[4](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jes/18/2/18_2_47/_pdf) • [1](https://japanracing.jp/_news2025/pdf/250601.pdf) |
| Triple Tiara legs | Oka Sho (1000 Guineas), Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks), Shuka Sho[2](https://en.netkeiba.com/library/detail.html?no=111) |
| Triple Tiara winners | Seven: Mejiro Ramonu (1986) through Liberty Island (2023)[2](https://en.netkeiba.com/library/detail.html?no=111) |
## Classic Triple Crown
The three Classic races test three-year-olds over progressively longer distances. The Tokyo Yushun, the second leg, is run over 2,400 m on the turf course at Tokyo racecourse, a trip the JRA describes as demanding speed, stamina, and sustained acceleration, with a 160-meter uphill slope in the long 525.9-meter home straight[3](https://www.jra.go.jp/keiba/g1/derby.html). The final leg, the Kikuka Sho, is the Japanese St. Leger, a Grade 1 race over 3,000 m on turf[4](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jes/18/2/18_2_47/_pdf).
**Deep Impact (2005).** Deep Impact completed the 2005 Triple Crown without ever being beaten. A JRA Equine Research Institute study of his running form in that year's Kikuka Sho recorded him at 17.8 m/sec in the measured section, the fastest of all horses measured against an average of 16.1 m/sec, with a stride frequency of 2.36 strides/sec against an average of 2.28[4](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jes/18/2/18_2_47/_pdf).
**Orfevre (2011).** Orfevre became the eighth winner of the Japanese Triple Crown[2](https://en.netkeiba.com/library/detail.html?no=111).
**Contrail (2020).** Contrail, a son of Deep Impact, followed his sire as a Triple Crown winner and is the latest horse to complete the series[1](https://japanracing.jp/_news2025/pdf/250601.pdf).
**2025 season.** [Museum Mile](https://www.edgepedia.org/museum-mile-horse) won the 2025 Satsuki Sho[5](https://www.jra.go.jp/keiba/g1/satsuki.html) and [Croix du Nord](https://www.edgepedia.org/croix-du-nord) won the 92nd Tokyo Yushun, taking the 2,400 m race in 2:23.7 as the favorite[3](https://www.jra.go.jp/keiba/g1/derby.html). Neither of the first two leg winners started the Kikuka Sho, the final leg, leaving the Triple Crown unclaimed that year[6](https://consvc.hkjc.com/-/media/Sites/JCRW/FormGuide/Simulcast/25_26/20251026/OSE20251026_starter_all.pdf).
## Japanese Triple Tiara
A three-year-old filly earns the Japanese Triple Tiara by sweeping all three Classic races restricted to fillies: the Oka Sho (1000 Guineas), the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks), and the Shuka Sho. Strictly speaking, the Shuka Sho is not considered a Classic race, but it acts as the final leg of the fillies' Triple Crown[2](https://en.netkeiba.com/library/detail.html?no=111).
The final leg took its present form only in 1996. The JRA created the Victoria Cup in 1970 at Kyoto racecourse over 2,400 m as an autumn equivalent of the colts' Kikuka Sho for fillies; it was renamed the Queen Elizabeth II Cup from 1976, and in 1996 that race became a Grade 1 event for three-year-old and older fillies and mares over 2,200 m. The same year the JRA established the Shuka Sho over 2,000 m as the closing leg of the fillies' Triple Crown. The race became an international race in 2009[7](https://www.jra.go.jp/keiba/g1/shuka.html).
Seven fillies have completed the Triple Tiara[2](https://en.netkeiba.com/library/detail.html?no=111):
1. **Mejiro Ramonu (1986)**, the first horse to win the Triple Tiara in Japan; inducted into the JRA Hall of Fame in 1987[2](https://en.netkeiba.com/library/detail.html?no=111).
2. **[Still in Love](https://www.edgepedia.org/still-in-love-horse) (2003)**, champion three-year-old filly of 2003[2](https://en.netkeiba.com/library/detail.html?no=111).
3. **Apapane (2010)**, whose Oaks victory was the first dead-heat in Japanese Grade 1 history[2](https://en.netkeiba.com/library/detail.html?no=111).
4. **Gentildonna (2012)**, Japanese Horse of the Year in 2012 and 2014 and a two-time [Japan Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/japan-cup) winner[2](https://en.netkeiba.com/library/detail.html?no=111).
5. **Almond Eye (2018)**, awarded Horse of the Year unanimously, the first filly to receive the honor that way[2](https://en.netkeiba.com/library/detail.html?no=111).
6. **Daring Tact (2020)**, the first filly to win the Triple Tiara unbeaten[2](https://en.netkeiba.com/library/detail.html?no=111).
7. **Liberty Island (2023)**, the seventh winner[2](https://en.netkeiba.com/library/detail.html?no=111).
## Recent seasons
The Shuka Sho results of the last two seasons show near misses rather than Tiara winners. In 2024 Cervinia won the race to complete a double crown, having won the Yushun Himba that spring[7](https://www.jra.go.jp/keiba/g1/shuka.html) • [8](https://japanracing.jp/_news2024/pdf/240815.pdf). In 2025 [Embroidery](https://www.edgepedia.org/embroidery) won the Shuka Sho in 1:58.3, again completing a double crown after her spring Classic success[7](https://www.jra.go.jp/keiba/g1/shuka.html). On the colts' side, the 2025 season ended without a Triple Crown, as the Satsuki Sho winner Museum Mile and the Derby winner Croix du Nord both missed the Kikuka Sho[6](https://consvc.hkjc.com/-/media/Sites/JCRW/FormGuide/Simulcast/25_26/20251026/OSE20251026_starter_all.pdf).
## References
1. [Result of the 92nd Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1), JRA Media & Publicity Department, June 1, 2025](https://japanracing.jp/_news2025/pdf/250601.pdf)
2. [Japanese Triple Tiara: List of Japanese Triple Tiara Winners, netkeiba Horse Racing Library](https://en.netkeiba.com/library/detail.html?no=111)
3. [2026年日本ダービー（GⅠ）, JRA](https://www.jra.go.jp/keiba/g1/derby.html)
4. [Running Form Characteristics of the Triple Crown Winner in Japan, Journal of Equine Science Vol. 18, No. 2 (2007)](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jes/18/2/18_2_47/_pdf)
5. [2026年皐月賞（GⅠ）, JRA](https://www.jra.go.jp/keiba/g1/satsuki.html)
6. [Kikuka Sho form guide, Hong Kong Jockey Club simulcast, October 26, 2025](https://consvc.hkjc.com/-/media/Sites/JCRW/FormGuide/Simulcast/25_26/20251026/OSE20251026_starter_all.pdf)
7. [2026年秋華賞（GⅠ）, JRA](https://www.jra.go.jp/keiba/g1/shuka.html)
8. [japanracing.jp](https://japanracing.jp/_news2024/pdf/240815.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Equestrian and animal sports › Horse racing › Horse races and classifications › Flat races › Triple Crowns and flat-race series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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