Meisho Tabaru (Japanese: Hepburn: Meisho Tabaru; foaled April 20, 2021) is a Japanese thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2025 and 2026 Takarazuka Kinen.
Background The horse's name is derived from the district in Kumamoto, as well as the Meisho eponym (kanmei, ) of the owner, Yoshio Matsumoto.
Racing career 2023: two-year old season Meisho Tabaru ran his first race at Kyoto Racecourse, a 2,000-meter maiden race for two-year-olds; ridden by , he finished fourth. His second maiden race saw him finish fifth behind future rival Danon Decile; his third, at Hanshin Racecourse, saw him claim his first win.
2024: three-year old season Meisho Tabaru was to start the season with the on January 20, but was scratched at the last moment due to a lameness in the right forearm. He was instead sent to the Tsubaki Sho on February 17, where he scored his second victory after taking the lead early on and holding onto it for the rest of the race. He was initially planned to run the Spring Stakes after that, but instead entered the Mainichi Hai on March 23 after having to briefly recuperate from a phlegmon on his left forearm. In the Mainichi Hai, Meisho Tabaru led from start to finish to claim his first graded win by 6 lengths. Following this victory, it was announced that the horse's next race would be the Satsuki Shō.
At the Satsuki Shō, Meisho Tabaru set a blistering front-running pace, covering the first 1,000 meters in 57.5 seconds. While this led to the winner, Justin Milano, breaking the race record, Meisho Tabaru burnt through his stamina and lost momentum on the final stretch, finishing last. He was next entered into the Tōkyō Yūshun, but was scratched on May 24 after it was discovered that he had suffered a stone bruise on his left hind leg.
After taking the summer off, Meisho Tabaru was entered into the Kobe Shimbun Hai, held on September 22. After making a good start and taking the lead, he held on to beat by half a length despite the latter's efforts to catch up.On October 20, Meisho Tabaru ran in the Kikuka-shō, where he briefly took the lead at the first corner of the second lap, but as the leader of the pack kept changing rapidly the horse lost the will to continue racing, dropping back and finishing 16th, over 5 seconds behind the winner, Urban Chic.
In spite of this defeat, it was announced that the horse was planned to race the Arima Kinen. However, as the race drew near, the number of horses registered to run in it exceeded the maximum, and Meisho Tabaru's inferior prize money left him unable to enter.
2025: four-year old season
Following his Arima Kinen withdrawal, Meisho Tabaru was instead entered into the Nikkei Shinshun Hai. After taking the lead early on, he sped up and covered the first 1,000 meters in 57.7 seconds. However, much like at the Satsuki Shō, he then lost momentum and fell back on the final straight to finish 11th, 2.1 seconds behind the winner . Following the race, the horse was sent to pasture to recuperate.
His next race would be the Dubai Turf on April 5, with Yutaka Take as his new jockey. In that race, he overcame a poor start to lead until the final stretch, where he was overtaken by Romantic Warrior and ultimately finished fifth.
On June 15, after returning to Japan, the horse was entered into the Takarazuka Kinen, with Take once again as his jockey. After taking the lead at the start, Meisho Tabaru ran the first 1,000 meters in 59.1 seconds. Fending off a challenge from Bellagio Opera on the final corner, Meisho Tabaru would go on to win the race by three lengths. This marked a father-son victory for the horse, as his sire, Gold Ship, won the same race in 2013 and 2014. This also marked Yutaka Take's fifth victory in the race, the most by any jockey, and his first since Deep Impact in 2006; the first win for a front-runner in the race since in 2008; and the first Grade I victory for trainer .
After another rest period, Meisho Tabaru was entered into the Autumn Tenno Sho on November 2, where he once again led for most of the race only to run out of stamina and finish sixth. His final race of the year was the Arina Kinen, where he overtook Mystery Way at the beginning of the backstretch, but again burned out in the final stretch and finished thirteenth, 1.1 seconds behind winner Museum Mile.
2026: five-year-old season
Meisho Tabaru began 2026 with an attempt at the Osaka Hai at Hanshin Racecourse, where he had never previously lost. His trainer Ishibashi said that the horse was lighter and not being pushed so much in training, while jockey Take admitted that the Arima Kinen run had been botched due to the tough race flow and stated that the Osaka Hai's 2000-metre distance was more suitable for him. At the start, he overcame a late start to take the lead as expected, pulling more than three lengths clear in the backstretch. He held on to that lead until the final 100 metres when Croix du Nord surged from the back and overtook him, winning by three-quarters of a length. Despite losing the race, Take stated he was proud of his ride that day because Meisho Tabaru gave it his all, and credited him for not stopping until the very end.
After the Osaka Hai, Meisho Tabaru's connection announced that they intended to have him run in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in France, and on May 21 he was one of seven JRA horses, including Forever Young, Shin Emperor, and Juryoku Pierrot, that were registered to enter.
In his second entry to the Takarazuka Kinen, he would face the winners of his two previous races, Croix du Nord and Museum Mile, as well as top mare Regaleira, who had finished ahead of him in the 2025 Arima Kinen. Croix du Nord entered the race as the favorite: having won the first two legs of the Spring Triple Crown, the Osaka Hai and Tenno Sho (Spring), he was aiming to become the first Spring Triple Crown winner in JRA history. Meisho Tabaru would start as second favorite, and indeed ran second throughout the race, before overtaking Cosmo Kuranda on the stretch, and then holding off Croix du Nord's final charge, to take a second Takarazuka Kinen win. This matched his sire's record of back-to-back Takarazuka Kinen victories, with Chrono Genesis being the only other two-time winner. Take remarked after the race about how similar the final stretch, with Croix du Nord giving chance, had felt to the Osaka Hai.
Racing form The following racing form is based on information available on JBIS-Search, netkeiba.com, Racing Post, and the Emirates Racing Authority. DateTrackRaceGradeDistance (Condition)EntryHNOdds (Favored)FinishTimeMarginsJockeyWinner (Runner-up)2023 – two-year-old seasonOct 9Kyoto2yo Newcomer2,000 m (Soft)1055.3 (3rd)4th2:05.90.4Taiga TsunodaAllnattOct 28Kyoto2yo Maiden Race1,800 m (Firm)1063.9 (2nd)5th1:48.30.4Taiga TsunodaDanon DecileDec 24Hanshin 2yo Maiden Race2,000 m (Firm)1473.3 (1st)2:00.6 -0.2Suguru Hamanaka(Culminale)2024 – three-year-old seasonJan 14KyotoWakagoma StakesL2,000 m (Soft)74ScratchedSuguru HamanakaSunrise ZipanguFeb 17KyotoTsubaki ShoALW (1 win)1,800 m (Firm)956.1 (3rd)1:46.90.0Suguru Hamanaka(Keep Calm)Mar 23HanshinMainichi HaiGIII1,800 m (Soft)1049.4 (5th)1:46.0 -1.0Ryusei Sakai(Noble Roger)Apr 14NakayamaSatsuki ShoGI2,000 m (Firm)1727.0 (4th)17th1:59.32.2Suguru HamanakaJustin MilanoMay 26TokyoTokyo YushunGI2,400 m (Firm)1716ScratchedSuguru HamanakaDanon DecileSept 22ChukyoKobe Shimbun HaiGII2,200 m (Good)14155.4 (2nd)2:11.8 -0.1Suguru Hamanaka(June Take)Oct 20KyotoKikuka-shōGI3,000 m (Firm)18109.6 (5th)16th3:09.35.2Suguru HamanakaUrban Chic2025 – four-year-old seasonJan 19ChukyoNikkei Shinshun HaiGII2,200 m (Firm)1665.3 (2nd)11th2:11.92.1Suguru HamanakaLord del ReyApr 5MeydanDubai TurfGI1,800 m (Firm)11619.0 (5th)5th1:46.270.43Yutaka TakeSoul RushJune 15HanshinTakarazuka KinenGI2,200 m (Good)171211.4 (7th)2:11.1 -0.5Yutaka Take(Bellagio Opera)Nov 2TokyoTenno Sho (Fall)GI2,000 m (Firm)14138.6 (5th)6th1:58.80.2Yutaka TakeMasquerade BallDec 28NakayamaArima KinenGI2,500 m (Firm)1665.8 (4th)13th2:32.61.1Yutaka TakeMuseum Mile2026 – five-year-old seasonApr 5HanshinOsaka HaiGI2,000 m (Firm)1564.8 (3rd)1:57.70.1Yutaka TakeCroix du NordJun 14HanshinTakarazuka KinenGI2,200 m (Soft)17163.9 (2nd)2:12.1 -0.1Yutaka Take(Croix du Nord)Oct 4LongchampPrix de l'Arc de TriompheGI2,400 m (Good to Soft)16533/1 (11th)14th2:28.11.0Yutaka TakeDaryz Legend:
Pedigree
Meisho Tabaru is inbred 3 x 4 to Sunday Silence, meaning that this stallion appears in both the third and fourth generations of his pedigree. Meisho Tabaru's uncle is , the winner of the 2012 Kyōto Daishōten. Meisho Tabaru's dam, Meisho Tsubakuro, is the horse that Mamoru Ishibashi won his last win as a jockey.
References