Satsuki Sho ? Race Details:
When:	April
Track Location:	Nakayama Racecourse, Funabashi, Chiba
Race Distance:	2000m
Race Status:	Grade 1
Race Conditions:	3YO Colts & Fillies at Set Weights
Weights:	Colts- 57kg / Fillies- 55kg
Stakes:	?235, 320, 000
Inaugurated:	1939

The Satsuki Sho, also known as the Japanese 2000 Guineas, is the first leg of the coveted Triple Crown in Japan. It is a Grade 1 flat thoroughbred race open to three-year-old colts and fillies (geldings excluded) run over 2000 metres under set weight conditions. Held annually in April at the Nakayama Racecourse in Funabashi, Chiba the track is a left-handed turf course. Worth ?235, 380, 000, the event was first run in 1939, known then as the Yokohama Norinsho Shoten Yonsai Yobiuma, when Rock Park claimed victory.

Today the maximum number of starters in the race is 18 and the status of the race usually ensures a full field of quality colts and fillies, creating an exciting and lucrative betting market. The Satsuki Sho is the shortest of the three Japanese Triple Crown races, but the difficult conditions of the track at Nakayama means it is also the most intense and unpredictable race.

A good lead-up race, held just before in early April, is the slightly shorter distanced Oka Sho (1600m), or Japanese 1000 Guineas, at the Hanshin Racecourse. Other Satsuki Sho trial races include the Kisaragi Sho (1800m) and Hochi Hai Yayoi Sho (2000m). The final major prep race for the Satsuki Sho is the Sho Spring Stakes (1800m), which has produced a number of winners for the first Triple Crown race in recent years including Neo Universe (2003), Daiwa Major (2004) and Meisho Samson (2006).

When betting on the Satsuki Sho, it is important to note that backing the favourites has not paid well for punters since Deep Impact won as the favourite in 2005. The 2008 winner, Captain Thule came through after starting the race as the seventh choice.

Many of the runners in the Satsuki Sho will continue their campaigns by having a shot at the other two Triple Crown events, the Tokyo Yushun (2400m) and the Kikuka Sho (3000m). But only the most powerful stayers are able to meet the challenge of these increased race distances.

Satsuki Sho ? Division of the Stakes:

1st – ?132, 476, 000
2nd ? ?49, 136, 000
3rd ? ?29, 068, 000
4th ? ?15, 000, 000
5th ? ?9, 700 000

Satsuki Sho ? Recent Race Results:

Year	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
2009	Unri Valed	Yasunari Iwata	Yasuo Tomomichi	Sunday Racing	1:58.7
2008	Captain Thule	Yuuga Kawada	Hideyuki Mori	Shadai Racehorse Co.	2:01.7
2007	Victory	Katsuharu Tanaka	Hidetaka Otonashi	Hideko Kondo	1:59.9
2006	Meisho Samson	Mamoru Ishibashi	Tsutomu Setoguchi	Yoshio Matsumoto	1:59.9
2005	Deep Impact	Yutaka Take	Yasuo Ikee	Makoto Kaneko	1:59.2
2004	Daiwa Major	Mirco Demuro	Hiroyuki Uehara	Daiwa Shoji Co.	1:58.6
2003	Neo Nuiverse	Mirco Demuro	Tsutomu Setoguchi	Shadai Racehorse Co.	2:01.2
2002	No Reason	Brett Doyle	Yasuo Ikee	Shinji Maeda	1:58.5
2001	Agnes Tachyon	Hiroshi Kawachi	Hiroyuki Nagahama	Takao Wantanebe	2:00.3