Queen Elizabeth II Cup 2026 (Japan): Three Oaks Winners Meet at Kyoto

Queen Elizabeth II Cup 2026 Japan: when it runs and who is in it

The Queen Elizabeth II Cup 2026 Japan edition runs on Sunday, November 15, at Kyoto Racecourse: a Grade 1 over 2,200 metres of turf, for fillies and mares aged three and up, with 18 runners. The story of the race is that three winners of the Yushun Himba, the Japanese Oaks, meet in it: Juryoku Pierrot (2026), Kamunyak (2025) and Cervinia (2024).

UPI's weekend preview calls it a rare meeting. As of Saturday, November 14, the race has not been run, so there is no result to report.

What time is that where you live?

The race card lists 15:40 in Japan. Tracks can move a post time, so treat these as scheduled, not guaranteed.

• US Eastern: 1:40 a.m. Sunday
• US Pacific: 10:40 p.m. Saturday
• Mexico City: 12:40 a.m. Sunday
• Bogotá and Lima: 1:40 a.m. Sunday
• Buenos Aires and Santiago: 3:40 a.m. Sunday
• Madrid: 7:40 a.m. Sunday

We could not confirm a broadcaster for viewers outside Japan before publishing, so we are not naming one. Check your usual racing channel's Saturday night schedule.

The three Japanese Oaks winners

Each of the three won the same race at the same age. They arrive in very different shape.

Juryoku Pierrot (2026 Oaks)

She is a 3-year-old daughter of Orfevre, trained by Ryo Terashima. She started on dirt, switched to turf, and has won all three of her turf starts, the last of them the Oaks on May 24.

Her rider is Seina Imamura, 22. According to the Hong Kong Jockey Club's preview, that Oaks made Imamura the first female Japan Racing Association jockey to win a Grade 1.

The question mark is the gap. Netkeiba reported on October 4 that she would skip the Shuka Sho on October 18 after showing signs of colic, so Sunday is her first race in almost six months. Terashima said then that the plan was to bring her along without pushing her and aim at this race.

Kamunyak (2025 Oaks)

Kamunyak is a 4-year-old by Black Tide, trained by Yasuo Tomomichi and ridden by Yuga Kawada. She comes in with the most recent form of the three.

She was second in the Victoria Mile (Grade 1) this spring and won the Ireland Trophy (Grade 2) over 1,800 metres at Tokyo on October 11. This is her first race beyond 2,000 metres since her Oaks, and previews of the race see the longer trip as a plus for her.

Cervinia (2024 Oaks)

Cervinia is a 5-year-old by Harbinger, trained by Tetsuya Kimura, with Tom Marquand listed to ride. In 2024 she won the Oaks and the Shuka Sho, then ran fourth in the Japan Cup.

Since then it has been hard going. Her record shows eight starts at ages 4 and 5 without a win and only one top-three finish. Her last victory, that Shuka Sho, came on this same Kyoto track.

Others to know in the field of 18

The three Oaks winners are not the whole race. These names come up in the previews:

• Queen's Walk (5): a two-time Grade 2 winner, second and third in the last two Victoria Miles. Cristian Demuro rides her for the first time, and she has never raced over 2,200 metres.
• Jocelyn (4): second to Kamunyak in the Ireland Trophy, ridden by Christophe Lemaire. She is a full sister to Efforia, Japan's 2021 Horse of the Year.
• Laughterlines (3): third in this year's Oaks and, like Juryoku Pierrot, not seen since. Yutaka Take rides.
• Aqua Vernal (5): third in the Kyoto Daishoten (Grade 2), looking for her first Grade 1.
• Lavanda (5): third in the Ireland Trophy after setting a 1,600-metre course record at Chukyo in August.

There are three 3-year-olds in the field. They carry 54 kg and the older mares carry 56 kg, the standard allowance that gives younger horses a fair shot against their elders.

What is the Queen Elizabeth II Cup?

It is Japan's autumn championship for female turf horses over a middle distance. It is the one top-level race where the best 3-year-old fillies meet older mares without having to take on males.

The short history:

• 1975-76: an older race called the Victoria Cup was renamed to mark Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Japan in 1975. The first running under the new name was in 1976.
• Until 1995: it was for 3-year-old fillies only, over 2,400 metres, and served as the third leg of the fillies' Triple Tiara.
• 1996: it opened to older mares and was cut to 2,200 metres. The Shuka Sho took over as the third Tiara leg.
• 1999: foreign-trained horses were allowed in. Snow Fairy, trained in England, won in 2010 and again in 2011.
• 2020-2022: it was run at Hanshin while Kyoto was rebuilt, then came home.

Last year's winner was Regaleira. Four mares have won it twice: Mejiro Dober, Admire Groove, Snow Fairy and Lucky Lilac.

New to the grading system? Our explainer on what a Grade 1 race is covers it, and the glossary has the basic racing terms.

What is the Japanese Oaks (Yushun Himba)?

The Yushun Himba is the Japanese Oaks: a Grade 1 for 3-year-old fillies over 2,400 metres at Tokyo Racecourse each May. A filly gets one chance at it in her life.

It is the middle leg of the Triple Tiara, Japan's fillies' Triple Crown:

1. Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas): 1,600 m at Hanshin in April
2. Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks): 2,400 m at Tokyo in May
3. Shuka Sho: 2,000 m at Kyoto in October

That is why three Oaks winners in one race is unusual. It needs three Oaks winners from different years to all be sound, in training and pointed at the same day. The race has no upper age limit, so they could come from any crops; this time they come from three straight ones. For comparison, the 2020 Japan Cup had two Oaks winners, Almond Eye and Daring Tact. BloodHorse notes that no US race has had three Kentucky Oaks winners in one field.

Where it fits in Japan's autumn Grade 1 calendar

Japan stacks its best turf races into a few autumn weeks. The classic generation finishes its series in October with the Shuka Sho, for fillies only, and the Kikuka Sho, the last leg of the Triple Crown, which is open to 3-year-old colts and fillies but not geldings.

The Queen Elizabeth II Cup comes next for the females, two weeks before the Japan Cup on November 29 at Tokyo. The Japan Cup is 2,400 metres and open to both sexes and to foreign runners.

A mare who runs big on Sunday has options afterward: a rest, a year-end Grade 1 at home, or a trip abroad. Connections sometimes float a target early: in June, Terashima told netkeiba that he and the owner had discussed the year-end Arima Kinen for Juryoku Pierrot if she still had something left after this race. The final call usually waits until they see how she comes out of it.

Not Keeneland's race, and not Hong Kong's

Three big races carry the late Queen's name, and search results mix them up.

• Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Japan): Kyoto, November, 2,200 m, fillies and mares 3 and up. This article.
• Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup: Keeneland, Kentucky, October, a Grade 1 on turf for 3-year-old fillies only.
• QEII Cup (Hong Kong): Sha Tin, April, a Group 1 over 2,000 m open to males and females.

Go by the venue and the conditions: if an article mentions Kyoto, November and a field of fillies and mares only, it is this one. Japanese names alone do not settle it, because Japanese horses and trainers often turn up in Hong Kong's race too.

What to watch on Sunday

No picks here, just the things worth your attention.

• The layoff. Juryoku Pierrot and Laughterlines both come straight from May. Watch how they travel in the last 400 metres, where fitness shows.
• The distance. Kamunyak steps up from 1,800 m. Queen's Walk tries 2,200 m for the first time.
• The old course. Cervinia's last win was at Kyoto. A return to a track a horse likes can matter.
• Imamura. A second Grade 1 for her would be another first for women riders in the JRA.
• The ground. The card listed the turf as good on Saturday. Check it again race morning; our guide to track ratings explains why it matters.
• Changes. Scratches and rider changes can happen up to race day, so look at the final card.

We will update this page once the official result is in. For more racing stories, see Trends.