Modeled on the famous race founded in England in 1780 by the 12th Earl of Derby Edward Smith-Stanley, the Japanese Derby, or Tokyo Yushun by its Japanese name, might not be able to boast such a long history. However, as is often the case with many things in Japan, it’s been able to grow in prestige over the years, and comes with its own fair share of pride and panache, things that Japan does well when given the chance. The earl would be proud that the race named after him has endured in so many different countries.
The first Derby in Japan was run in 1932 at the Meguro Racecourse in Tokyo, when Wakataka won the race in a time of around 2:45, some 20 seconds or more slower than the modern thoroughbred can achieve in this century. Do Deuce holds the record time for the race, which he won in 2:21.9 seconds just last year.
The current Tokyo Racecourse became the home of the Derby in 1934, and since then the race has been run there along with a number of other famous horse races, including the Emperor’s Cup or Tenno Sho (autumn) and the year-ending Japan Cup. This year sees the 90th running of the Derby (there were no races due to the war in 1945 and 1946) and it is the second leg of the series of races for 3-year-old colts known as the Triple Crown. There have just been eight Triple Crown winners in Japanese racing history: The legendary St. Lite was the first one in 1941, and the latest was Contrail a few years back in 2020.