1. Tenno Sho (Spring) Latest News
2. Tenno Sho (Spring) 2026 Entries Horse
3. Tenno Sho (Spring) 2026 Notable runners
4. Tenno Sho (Spring) race overview
5. Racecourse Feature
6. Tenno Sho (Spring) Past Winners

Tenno Sho (Spring) Latest News

Tenno Sho (Spring) 2026 Entries Horse

2026 OSAKA HAI (G1) winner Croix du Nord, 2025 TENNO SHO (SPRING) (G1) winner Redentor and 2026 HANSHIN DAISHOTEN (G2) winner Admire Terra etc are scheduled to run.

＊Please check the entries, Field, result, and other data against JRA official data.

Tenno Sho (Spring) 2026 Notable runners

Croix du Nord

Croix du Nord has developed into one of the leading colts of his generation in Japan. After making an immediate impact as a two-year-old, he established himself among the leading Classic prospects by capturing the Hopeful Stakes at the end of 2024.

He confirmed that status in 2025 when he followed a runner-up finish in the Satsuki Sho with victory in the Japanese Derby, then later tested himself overseas with a win in the Prix Prince d’Orange before taking on the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. He further underlined his class in 2026 when he returned to win the Osaka Hai, adding another major G1 title to his record.

Admire Terra

Admire Terra has steadily developed into a high-class stayer on turf in Japan. Out of Admire Miyabi, who captured the Queen Cup and ranked among the leading fillies of her generation, he showed promise from an early stage and continued to progress with experience.

He established himself in the staying division with a third-place finish in the Kikuka Sho in 2024, then took another step forward in 2025 when he won both the Osaka-Hamburg Cup and the Meguro Kinen. He further underlined his class in 2026 by capturing the Hanshin Daishoten, confirming himself as one of the notable names among Japan’s leading stayers.

Redentor

Redentor has developed into one of Japan’s leading stayers on turf. Out of Corcovado, he showed steady progress through his three-year-old season and established himself among the top horses in the staying division when he finished runner-up in the Kikuka Sho in 2024.

He reached a new high in 2025 when he captured the G3 Diamond Stakes before going on to win the Tenno Sho (Spring) for his first G1 title, underlining both his stamina and his class at the highest level. He returned in 2026 in the G2 Kyoto Kinen and remains one of the key names in Japan’s long-distance division.

Tenno Sho (Spring) race overview

The Tenno Sho (Spring) is a prestigious horse race held at Kyoto Racecourse, classified as an International Grade 1 event. It is the longest of Japan's Grade 1 races, contested over a turf course of 3200 meters. The Tenno Sho occurs biannually, and since the autumn edition was shortened to 2000 meters in 1984, the spring edition has been specifically referred to as "Tenno Sho (Spring)."

Since 2008, the race has invited the previous year's winner of the Melbourne Cup, a Group 1 race in Australia, and the victor of the Tenno Sho (Spring) earns a guaranteed spot in the same year’s Melbourne Cup.

Following the upgrade of the Osaka Hai to a Grade 1 race in 2017, horses that win the Osaka Hai, Tenno Sho (Spring), and Takarazuka Kinen in the same year receive a special bonus.

Racecourse Feature

Kyoto 3200m turf course : The Tenno Sho (Spring) utilizes the outer turf course at Kyoto. The race starts midway through the front stretch, making for a course that extends slightly more than one and a half laps. Horses face a 417-meter run to the first corner and a 404-meter final straight when the A Course is used. Like the 3000-meter races, horses that can save ground on the inside and manage their pace efficiently tend to perform well, requiring substantial stamina and pacing skills. Endurance in maintaining a strong finish from the downhill stretch to the finish line is also crucial. The course record was set in 2017 by Kitasan Black, who clocked a time of 3:12.5.

Tenno Sho (Spring) Past Winners

TENNO SHO (SPRING) Feature

Latest information on the TENNO SHO (SPRING) (G1).