The Nakayama Grand Jump (中山グランドジャンプ) is a Japanese horse racing steeplechase, held at Nakayama Racecourse every year in mid-April. It is for thoroughbreds, four years old and older, run at a distance of 4250m (2 5/8 miles + 84 feet).

Nakayama Grand Jump
中山グランドジャンプ
Jump Grade 1 race
2009 Nakayama Grand Jump winner Spring Ghent
LocationNakayama Racecourse
Inaugurated1999
Race typeThoroughbred-Steeplechase
Race information
Distance4250 meters
(About 2 and 2/3 miles)
SurfaceTurf
TrackRight and Left-handed
Qualification4-y-o & Up, Thoroughbreds
Weight4-y-o 62 kg, 5-y-o + 63 kg
Allowance: Fillies & mares 2 kg
Purse¥ 142,660,000 (as of 2024)
1st: ¥ 66,000,000
2nd: ¥ 26,000,000
3rd: ¥ 17,000,000

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. Held as "Nakayama Daishogai spring" until 1998, it was first run in 1999 as a 4100m race. It is one of two Grade I steeplechase races on Japanese turf, beside the Nakayama Daishogai, which slightly reconfigures the same racecourse.

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. Five foreign runners have won: St Steven (New Zealand 2002), Karasi (Australia 2005, 2006, 2007) and Blackstairmountain (Ireland 2013).

Winners

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Year
Winner
Age
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
Time
1999(*1) Mejiro Pharaoh 6 Takashi Oehara Yokichi Okubo Mejiro Shoji co. 4:56.2
2000 Gokai 7 Yoshiyuki Yokoyama Hiroyuki Gohara Kei Yoshihashi 4:43.1
2001 Gokai 8 Yoshiyuki Yokoyama Hiroyuki Gohara Kei Yoshihashi 4:52.3
2002 St Steven 8 Craig Thornton John Wheeler John Wheeler 4:50.9
2003 Big Taste 5 Katsuyoshi Tsuneishi Tadashi Nakao Big co. 4:48.9
2004 Blandices 7 Takashi Oehara Tatsuo Fujiwara Sunday Racing Co. Ltd. 4:47.0
2005 Karasi 10 Brett Scott Eric Musgrove Pearse Morgan 4:50.4
2006 Karasi 11 Brett Scott Eric Musgrove Pearse Morgan 4:50.8
2007 Karasi 12 Brett Scott Eric Musgrove Pearse Morgan 4:50.4
2008 Maruka Rascal 6 Makoto Nishitani Yutaka Masumoto Kawacho Sangyo 4:57.7
2009 Spring Ghent 9 Yuzo Shirahama Akihiko Nomura Haruo Kato 4:49.1
2010 Merci Mont Saint 5 Yosuke Kono Kohei Take Mitsuishi Farm 5:03.5
2011(*2) Meiner Neos 8 Daichi Shibata Ryuichi Inaba K Thoroughbred Club Ruffian 4:51.6
2012 Majesty Bio 5 Daichi Shibata Tsuyoshi Tanaka Bio Co. Ltd. 5:02.9
2013 Blackstairmountain 8 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins Susannah Ricci 4:50.5
2014 Apollo Maverick 5 Yusuke Igarashi Masahiro Horii Apollo Thoroughbred Club 4:50.7
2015 Up To Date 5 Mitsuaki Hayashi Shozo Sasaki Kazuo Imanishi 4:46.6
2016 Oju Chosan 5 Shinichi Ishigami Shoichiro Wada Chosan Co Ltd 4:49.64
2017 Oju Chosan 6 Shinichi Ishigami Shoichiro Wada Chosan Co Ltd 4:50.8
2018 Oju Chosan 7 Shinichi Ishigami Shoichiro Wada Chosan Co Ltd 4:43.0
2019 Oju Chosan 8 Shinichi Ishigami Shoichiro Wada Chosan Co Ltd 4:47.6
2020 Oju Chosan 9 Shinichi Ishigami Shoichiro Wada Chosan Co Ltd 5:02.9
2021 Meisho Dassai 8 Kazuma Mori Yuji Iida Yoshio Matsumoto 4:50.1
2022 Oju Chosan 11 Shinichi Ishigami Shoichiro Wada Chosan Co Ltd 4:52.3
2023 Irogotoshi 6 Yu Kuroiwa Kazuya Makita Gensho Uchida 4:54.1
2024 Irogotoshi 7 Yu Kuroiwa Kazuya Makita Gensho Uchida 4:47.2
  • (*1):The 1999 race was open to Japanese trained horses only.
  • (*2):As a result of 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, 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.

References

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  1. ^ "中山GJ". Netkeiba.
  2. ^ "Nakayama Grand Jump". Netkeiba.