JRA Award for Best Dirt Horse

Japanese Best Dirt Horse is a title awarded annually by the Japan Racing Association (JRA). Since 1987 the honor has been part of the JRA Awards.

Records

Most successful horse (2 wins):

  • Wing Arrow – 1998, 2000
  • Admire Don – 2003, 2004
  • Kane Hekili – 2005, 2008
  • Espoir City – 2009, 2010
  • Lemon Pop – 2023, 2024

Leading trainer (2 wins):

  • Katsumi Minai – Wing Arrow (1998, 2000)
  • Hiroyoshi Matsuda – Admire Don (2003, 2004)
  • Sei Ishizaka – Alondite (2006), Vermilion (2007)
  • Katsuhiko Sumii - Kane Hekili (2005, 2008)
  • Akio Adachi – Espoir City (2009, 2010)
  • Kunihide Matsuda – Kurofune (2001), Belshazzar (2013)
  • Hiroyasu Tanaka – Lemon Pop (2023, 2024)

Leading owner (4 wins):

Winners

Year
 Horse
 Trainer
 Owner
 Age
1987 No Award
1988 No Award
1989 Dyna Letter Toshio Nihon'yanagi Shadai Racing 5
1990 Caribbean Song Osamu Kato Hajime Ogifuji Ranch 4
1991 Narita Falcon Kentaro Nakao Hidenori Yamaji 4
1992 No Award
1993 Meisho Homura Takahashi Shigetada Yoshio Matsumoto 5
1994 Fujino Makken O Yoshio Nakamura Hiroshi Nakamura 3
1995 Lively Mount Fujio Shibata Tetsuro Kato 4
1996 Hokuto Vega Takao Nakano Kanamori Shoji Mori 6
1997 No Award
1998 Wing Arrow Katsumi Minai Minoru Ikeda 3
1999 No Award
2000 Wing Arrow Katsumi Minai Makoto Kaneko 5
2001 Kurofune Kunihide Matsuda Makoto Kaneko 5
2002 Gold Allure Yasutoshi Ikee Shadai Racing 4
2003 Admire Don Hiroyoshi Matsuda Riichi Kondo 4
2004 Admire Don Hiroyoshi Matsuda Riichi Kondo 5
2005 Kane Hekili Katsuhiko Sumii Makoto Kaneko 3
2006 Alondite Sei Ishizaka Carrot Farm Co. 3
2007 Vermilion Sei Ishizaka Sunday Racing 5
2008 Kane Hekili Katsuhiko Sumii Makoto Kaneko 6
2009 Espoir City Akio Adachi Yushun Horse 4
2010 Espoir City Akio Adachi Yushun Horse 5
2011 Transcend Yasuda Takayuki Koji Maeda 5
2012 Nihonpiro Ours Yuki Ohashi Hyakutaro Kobayashi 5
2013 Belshazzar Kunihide Matsuda Shadai Race Horse 5
2014 Hokko Tarumae Katsuichi Nishiura Michiaki Yabe 5
2015 Copano Rickey Akira Murayama Sachiaki Kobayashi 5
2016 Sound True Noboru Takagi Hiroshi Yamada 6
2017 Gold Dream Osamu Hirata Katsumi Yoshida 4[1]
2018 Le Vent Se Leve Kiyoshi Hagiwara G1 Racing 3
2019 Chrysoberyl Hidetaka Otonashi Carrot Farm 3[2]
2020 Chuwa Wizard Ryuji Okubo Shinobu Nakanishi 5[3]
2021 T O Keynes Daisuke Takayanagi Tomoya Ozasa 4[4]
2022 Cafe Pharoah Noriyuki Hori Koichi NIshikawa 5[5]
2023 Lemon Pop Hiroyasu Tanaka Godolphin 5[6]
2024 Lemon Pop Hiroyasu Tanaka Godolphin 6[7]

References

  1. ^ "Winners of the 2017 JRA Awards announced". Horse Racing in Japan. 10 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Winners of the 2019 JRA Awards announced". Horse Racing in Japan. 8 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Winners of the 2020 JRA Awards announced". Horse Racing in Japan. 7 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Winners of the 2021 JRA Awards announced". Horse Racing in Japan. 11 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Winners of the 2022 JRA Awards announced". Horse Racing in Japan. 2023-01-10. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  6. ^ "「2023年度JRA賞」決定！年度代表馬はイクイノックス！ JRA". jra.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  7. ^ "2025.01.07 Winners of the 2024 JRA Awards announced - News - Horse Racing in Japan". japanracing.jp. Retrieved 2025-01-08.