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Croix du Nord Lands Narrow Victory in Tenno Sho (Spring)

Heavy favorite Croix du Nord claimed his fourth G1 victory in this year’s Tenno Sho (Spring), having won the 2024 Hopeful Stakes (2,000m), 2025 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, 2,400m) and this year’s Osaka Hai (2,000m) which was his last start four weeks ago. The brown colt became the first Derby winner to notch this race after Meisho Samson in 2007 while also marking the seventh father-and-son victory in JRA history—his sire, Kitasan Black, was a two-time Tenno Sho (Spring) winner (2016-2017). Both trainer Takashi Saito and jockey Yuichi Kitamura claimed their JRA-G1 victory following the Osaka Hai with this colt and this victory secured the former’s 11th and the latter’s ninth G1 in total.

Croix du Nord broke smoothly and was forwardly positioned around sixth, three wide throughout most of the 3,200-meter trip. Maintaining good position in his first long-distance challenge, the Kitasan Black colt was given the go at early stretch and responded immediately to draw away along the flat Kyoto stretch, looking very much a clear winner before Wurttemberg came storming from behind, forcing a careful deliberation by the racing stewards who ultimately determined the four-year-old colt as the winner.

“I really didn’t know whether we had won or not and it was a long time waiting for the final results but I feel relieved that we were the winner. The plan was to have him relaxed going downhill in the first lap but the colt got a little keen but all in all, he proved himself to be a terrific colt with all-round capabilities and power,” commented Yuichi Kitamura.

Wurttemberg raced well off the pace at the very rear for most of the way, made headway going downhill towards the last corner and circled wide into the straight. Showing good speed from then on, the six-year-old son of Kitasan Black was quickly at the heels of Admire Terra with 200 meters to go and matched the finishing speed of the eventual winner to pass all but Croix du Nord to just miss by a nose.

Other Horses:
4th: (4) Aqua Vernal—ran wide behind winner, rallied gamely, outrun in last 100m, finished close
5th: (12) Redentor—sat around 9th, showed effort but no match for top finishers
6th: (11) Tagano Dude—settled around 13th, angled out, passed tired rivals
7th: (8) Shin Emperor—saved ground around 10th, needed more in last 200m
8th: (13) Mystery Way—set pace, maintained 5-length lead at one point, ran gamely until 100m out
9th: (1) Vermicelles—hugged rail around 6-7th, lacked needed kick in last 200m
10th: (10) Meiner Campana—raced around 5th, failed to sustain bid in last 300m
11th: (2) Sunrise Soleil—ran in 5th early, advanced to 2nd in backstretch, took brief lead at early stretch, weakened in last 200m
12th: (5) Keiai Sandera—took economic trip around 10th, unable reach contention
13th: (9) Precious Day—unhurried around 13th, no factor
14th: (14) Hohelied—chased leader in 2nd, dropped back at stretch
15th: (6) Echt—traveled in 3rd, faded after final corner

THE 173RD TENNO SHO (SPRING) (G1)
4-year-olds & up, 3,200 meters (about 16 furlongs), turf, right-handed
Sunday, May 3, 2026            Kyoto Racecourse         11th Race         Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 651,000,000 (about US$ 4,200,000 <US$1=¥155>)
4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares,
1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2022
Course record: 3:12.5           Race record: 3:12.5 [Kitasan Black (JPN, by Black Tide), 2017]
Safety factor: 18 runners       Going: Good to Firm      Weather: Drizzle

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 21,494,622,600       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 31,678,555,000       Attendance: 55,974

Winner= 10 starts: 7 wins & 1 second / Added & stakes money: ¥ 303,192,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 1,219,840,600

* Tenno Sho (Spring) (G1)

The forerunner of the Tenno Sho was established in 1905 under the name “Emperor’s Cup,” in which the winner received the silver comport bestowed by the Emperor. The race was renamed to “Teishitsu Goshoten Kyoso” the following year. The race became biannual events—held at Hanshin in spring and at Tokyo in autumn—a year after the establishment of the Japan Racing Society (the forerunner of the Japan Racing Association) in 1936 and was officially named the “Tenno Sho” from the autumn of 1947. The Tenno Sho (Spring) became the ultimate competition to determine the champion stayer, having altered its distance to 3,200 meters in 1938 while its counterpart in autumn run over 2,000 meters is one of the biggest middle-distance events contested between the proven older horses with the addition of the three-year-old hopefuls. The venue of the spring version was moved to Kyoto Racecourse in 1948 and was temporarily shifted to Hanshin in 2021 and 2022 during the renovation of Kyoto’s grandstand.
The Tenno Sho (Spring) was designated as an international race in 2005 and welcomed Makybe Diva (GB, by Desert King) of Australia as the first foreign contender the same year when she finished seventh before winning her third consecutive Melbourne Cup (G1, 3,200m). Red Cadeaux (GB, by Cadeaux Genereux) was the latest foreign contender of this race in 2014, running for the second time after finishing third in the 2013 edition, but was unable to perform over the firm turf and finished 14th.
This year, defending champion Redentor came off an eighth in the Kyoto Kinen (G2, 2,200m; Feb.15), his comeback start from a femur fracture in his right hind leg. Admire Terra won his second graded title in his last start, the Hanshin Daishoten (G2, 3,000m; Mar.22), in which Aqua Vernal followed in second. 2025 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1, 2,400m) champion Croix du Nord registered his third G1 title in the Osaka Hai (G1, 2,000m; Apr.5) with the Kokura Daishoten (G3, 1,800m) winner Tagano Dude in fourth. The field also included Wurttemberg and the Stayers Stakes (G2, 3,600m) victor Hohelied, who came off fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Diamond Stakes (G3, 3,400m; Feb.21); two-time graded winner Shin Emperor; and Copa Republica Argentina (G2, 2,500m) victor Mystery Way.