The Nakayama Grand Jump (中山グランドジャンプ) is a Japanese horse racing

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

, held at

Nakayama Racecourse is located in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan. It is used for horse racing. It has a capacity of 165,676. It was built in 1990. Physical attributes Nakayama Race Course has two grass courses, a dirt course, and a jump course. The turf's measures 184 ...

every year in mid-April. It is for

thoroughbreds The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are con ...

, four years old and older, run at a distance of 4250m (2 5/8 miles + 84 feet). With a purse of over 142,660,000 yen, (about US$1.3 million), the Nakayama Grand Jump is one of the richest steeplechase races in the world. The race, held as "

Nakayama Daishogai The Nakayama Daishogai (中山大障害) is a Group 1 steeplechase horse race in Japan open to thoroughbreds which are three-years-old or above. It is run over a distance of 4100m (2 miles + 84 feet) at Nakayama Racecourse every year in late De ...

spring" until 1998, was first run in 1999. Its distance was 4100m until 2000. It is one of two Grade I steeplechase races on Japanese turf; the other is the

, which uses the same racecourse under a slightly different configuration. The race is run on Nakayama's steeplechase course, which follows a twisted path on the racecourse interior over a series of jumps, inclines and declines. The dirt course is also crossed several times. On the final lap, with about 1200 m (3/4 mile) remaining, horses enter the outer turf course along the backstretch for the race's final three jumps. The race has been won five times by overseas runners: St Steven (New Zealand 2002), Karasi (Australia 2005, 2006, 2007) and Blackstairmountain (Ireland 2013).

Winners

*(*1):The 1999 race was open to Japanese trained horses only. *(*2):As a result of

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peni ...

, the 2011 race was postponed to July 2, and run over a distance of 4260m. For this year only, three-year-olds were allowed to enter the race. The weight conditions were changed to 61.5 kg for three-year-olds and 63.5 for four-year-olds or above.

External links

Nakayama Grand Jump at the Japan Association for International Racing and Stud Book website
{{Japanese Grade I horse races Horse races in Japan Steeplechase (horse racing)