The Kawasaki Kinen (Kawasaki Memorial) (川崎記念) is a Japanese
thoroughbred horse race on dirt track for horses aged four years or older. It was graded as a domestic grade 1 race in 1998. It is held in January, so it is the first (domestic) grade 1 race in Japanese horseracing season. Its name "Kawasaki" comes from that of
Kawasaki city in
Kanagawa prefecture.
This race is regarded as preparation for the
Dubai World Cup, along with the
February Stakes
The is a Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan for four-year-old and above thoroughbreds. It is run over a distance of 1,600 metres (approximately 8 furlongs) at Tokyo Racecourse in late February.
It was first run in 1984 as February Handicap, and wa ...
. Although some past winners (such as
Smart Falcon
Smart or SMART may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014
* Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com
* ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper
* ''SMart'', a children's television seri ...
and
Vermilion) ran the Dubai World Cup after winning this race, only Ushba Tesoro won both the Kawasaki Kinen and the Dubai World Cup.
Records
Most successful horses (3 wins):
* Countess Up – ''1985, 1986, 1987''
* Hokko Tarumae – ''2014, 2015, 2016''
Other repeat winners (2 wins):
* Ichi Kanto – ''1958, 1959''
* Gold Spencer – ''1980, 1981''
* Daring Grass – ''1982, 1984''
* Hokuto Vega – ''1996, 1997''
* Abukuma Poro – ''1998, 1999''
* Vermilion – ''2007, 2010''
* Chuwa Wizard – ''2020, 2022''
Winners since 2000
Open middle distance horse races
Dirt races in Japan
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