The Shuka Sho is a relatively new race having been introduced in 1996 to replace the Queen Elizabeth II Cup as the last stop in the ‘fillies’ triple crown’, which is known in Japan as the Triple Tiara.
Whereas the actual Triple Crown, open to colts and fillies, features three Classics, the Satsuki Sho (2,000 Guineas), Tokyo Yushun (Derby) and Kikuka Sho (St Leger), the fillies-only version includes only two classics, the Oka Sho (1,000 Guineas) and the Yushun Himba (Oaks), with the Shuka Sho not actually a classic race.
And, while the Kikuka Sho brings a step up to 3000m to wrap up the Triple Crown, the fillies go back in trip for the Triple Tiara finale, with the Shuka Sho being a 2000m race. Six fillies have collected the Triple Tiara and five of those wrapped it up in the Shuka Sho: Still In Love (2003), Apapane (2010), Gentildonna (2012), Almond Eye (2018) and Daring Tact (2020). The race’s home is Kyoto but construction work at the course meant that it was moved to Hanshin in 2021 and 2022.
Featured winner: Gentildonna
A nail-biting victory over the mighty Orfevre in the 2012 Japan Cup capped a stunning three-year-old season for Gentildonna. But just as important to her legacy was her Shuka Sho success one month prior, which enabled her to join a select group of Japanese fillies to have won the Triple Tiara. Her wins in the two fillies-only Classics, the Oka Sho and Yushun Himba, and the Triple Tiara third leg, the Shuka Sho, were among a tally of six successes during that season from seven starts.
The Sei Ishizaka-trained mare bagged a second Japan Cup in 2013, while in 2014 she earned a glittering victory in the Dubai Sheema Classic and ended her career with a famous grand prix score in the Arima Kinen. Gentildonna retired with ten wins and five placings from 19 races