JRA Award for Best Sprinter or Miler

The JRA Award for Best Sprinter or Miler is a title awarded annually by the Japan Racing Association (JRA). Since 1987 the honor has been part of the JRA Awards. A single prize was awarded until 2023, when separate categories for Sprinters and Milers were created.

Records

Most successful horse (2 wins):

• Bamboo Memory – 1989, 1990
• Taiki Shuttle – 1997, 1998
• Durandal – 2003, 2004
• Daiwa Major – 2006, 2007
• Lord Kanaloa – 2012, 2013
• Gran Alegria – 2020, 2021

Best Sprinter or Miler Winners

Year	Horse	Trainer	Owner	Age
1987	Nippo Teio	Kinzo Kubota	Yuichi Yamaishi	4
1988	Soccer Boy	Yukiharu Ono	Shadai Racing	3
1989	Bamboo Memory	Kunihiko Takeshi	Takeda Tatsuichi	4
1990	Bamboo Memory	Kunihiko Takeshi	Takeda Tatsuichi	5
1991	Daiichi Ruby	Yuji Ito	Haruo Tsujimoto	4
1992	Nishino Flower	Masahiro Matsuda	Masayuki Nishiyama	3
1993	Yamanin Zephyr	Yusuke Kurita	Hajime Doi	5
1994	Sakura Bakushin O	Katsutaro Sakai	Sakura Commerce	5
1995	Hishi Akebono	Masaru Sayama	Masaichiro Abe	3
1996	Flower Park	Shouichi Matsumoto	Katsumi Yoshida	4
1997	Taiki Shuttle	Kazuo Fujisawa	Taiki Farm Co.	3
1998	Taiki Shuttle	Kazuo Fujisawa	Taiki Farm Co.	4
1999	Air Jihad	Masanori Ito	Lucky Field Co.	4
2000	Daitaku Yamato	Sei Ishizaka	Kazuo Nakamura	6
2001	Trot Star	Eiji Nakano	Minoru Takano	5
2002	Admire Cozzene	Mitsuru Hashida	Riichi Kondo	6
2003	Durandal	Masahiro Sakaguchi	Teruya Yoshida	4
2004	Durandal	Masahiro Sakaguchi	Teruya Yoshida	5
2005	Hat Trick	Katsuhiko Sumii	Carrot Farm	4
2006	Daiwa Major	Hiroyuki Uehara	Keizo Oshiro	5
2007	Daiwa Major	Hiroyuki Uehara	Keizo Oshiro	6
2008	Sleepless Night	Kojiro Hashiguchi	Sunday Racing	4
2009	Laurel Guerreiro	Mitsugu Kon	Laurel Racing	5
2010	Kinshasa No Kiseki	Noriyuki Hori	Kazumi Yoshida	7
2011	Curren Chan	Takayuki Yasuda	Takashi Suzuki	4
2012	Lord Kanaloa	Takayuki Yasuda	Lord Horse Club	4
2013	Lord Kanaloa	Takayuki Yasuda	Lord Horse Club	5
2014	Snow Dragon	Noboru Takagi	Makio Okada	6
2015	Maurice	Noriyuki Hori	Kazumi Yoshida	4
2016	Mikki Isle	Hidetaka Otonashi	Mizuki Noda	5
2017	Red Falx	Tomohito Ozeki	TokyoHorseRacing Co Ltd	6[1]
2018	Fine Needle	Yoshitada Takahashi	Godolphin	5
2019	Indy Champ	Hidetaka Otonashi	Silk Racing	4
2020	Gran Alegria	Kazuo Fujisawa	Sunday Racing	4[2]
2021	Gran Alegria	Kazuo Fujisawa	Sunday Racing	5[3]
2022	Serifos	Mitsumasa Nakauchida	G1 Racing Co. Ltd	3[4]

Best Sprinter winners

Year	Horse	Trainer	Owner	Age
2023	Mama Cocha	Yasutoshi Ikee	Kaneko Makoto Holdings	4[5]
2024	Lugal	Haruki Sugiyama	Yoshimasa Ema	4[6]
2025	Satono Reve	Noriyuki Hori	Hajime Satomi	6[7]

Best Miler winners

Year	Horse	Trainer	Owner	Age
2023	Songline	Toru Hayashi	Sunday Racing	5[5]
2024	Soul Rush	Yasutoshi Ikee	Tatsue Ishikawa	6[6]
2025	Jantar Mantar	Tomokazu Takano	Shadai Race Horse Co. Ltd.	4[8]

References

1. "Winners of the 2017 JRA Awards announced". Horse Racing in Japan. 10 January 2018.
2. "Winners of the 2020 JRA Awards announced". Horse Racing in Japan. 7 January 2021.
3. "Winners of the 2021 JRA Awards announced". Horse Racing in Japan. 11 January 2022.
4. "Winners of the 2022 JRA Awards announced". Horse Racing in Japan. 2023-01-10. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
5. "「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.
6. "2025.01.07 Winners of the 2024 JRA Awards announced - News - Horse Racing in Japan". japanracing.jp. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
7. "「2025年度JRA賞」決定！年度代表馬はフォーエバーヤング！ JRA". jra.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-01-06.
8. "「2025年度JRA賞」決定！年度代表馬はフォーエバーヤング！ JRA". jra.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-01-06.

• Horse racing in Japan: JRA Awards