Yoshio Matsumoto (January 6, 1938 â August 29, 2025) was a Japanese businessman and racehorse owner.
Matsumoto served as Chief Executive Officer of Kishiro Co., Ltd. (as of 2013), a company in the industrial machinery field that manufactures about 40% of the crank shafts for diesel engines used in large vessels worldwide. He was also an amateur shogi player, holding the rank of 6-dan. He was long acquainted with Kunio Naità Â, a former professional shogi player. At Naito's request, Matsumoto had sponsored Kansai Women's Kishiro Cup - Meisho Competition (Kishiro-hai Sà Âdatsu Kansai Joryà « Meishà Â-sen) since 2005. In 2007, he received the Medal with Dark Blue Ribbon, and in 2010, the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette.
He became the head of the support organization for Yasutoshi Nishimura, a member of the House of Representatives from Akashi, through the introduction of Yoshirà  Mori, who was then chair of the Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyà «kai.
Matsumoto died of pancreatic cancer On August 29, 2025, at the age of 87. The news was announced on September 2 by Kishiro Co., Ltd.ãÂÂ
Matsumoto was registered as a horse owner with the Japan Racing Association (JRA). His racing silks featured a blue body with a pink sash and pink sleeves. Takanori Yoshimoto, a jockey affiliated with Hokkaido Keiba (a regional racing association), uses the same silks with Matsumoto's permission. The crown name Meisho (æÂÂæ¾) is derived from his hometown Akashi (æÂÂç³) and his family name Matsumoto (æ¾æ¬). It also shares the pronunciation of the Japanese word for "great commander" (Ã¥ÂÂå°Â).
In 1974, Matsumoto was registered as a JRA racehorse owner. He eventually became a prominent owner with nearly 50 horses per generation, an exceptional number for an individual. In September 2009, he became chair of the Japan Owners' Association and was later appointed honorary chair. Most of his horses were trained at the Ritto Training Center and distributed among various trainers, although some were entrusted to Futoshi Kojima and Eiji Nakano of the Miho Training Center. His wife, Kazuko, and his son, YoshitakaâÂÂwho is also the current CEO of Kishiro Co., LtdâÂÂare racehorse owners as well, Yoshitaka is best known as the owner of Meisho Suzanna, winner of the 2015 Queen's Stakes. Both Kazuko and Yoshitaka use the same Meisho crown name as Yoshio.
While the Japanese racing scene is dominated by horses with famous bloodlines from prestigious farms, Matsumoto preferred purchasing inexpensive horses with less well-known pedigrees from small to mid-sized farms, emphasizing the importance of building connections and trust with those farms. He selected horses based on recommendations from trainers and breeders, rather than inspecting them personally. As a result, he first encountered Meisho SamsonâÂÂa winner of the Tà Âkyà  Yà «shun and Tenno ShoâÂÂat the paddock of Kokura Racecourse when the horse made its debut. He also owned many descendants of his former racehorses. Meisho Homura and its offspring Meisho Battler both won graded races, making them a successful father-daughter pair. Staff members of small to mid-sized farms affectionately called him Meisho-san as a sign of respect. There was even a social club in the Hidaka region, the San'ai-kai, created to foster friendship with Matsumoto. He also converted many of his unsuccessful racehorses into lead ponies.
While many of his horses won graded races hosted by the JRA, Matsumoto had no success in G1 titles until Meisho Doto won the Takarazuka Kinen in 2001, 28 years after he began owning racehorses. He subsequently gained greater prominence in G1 races with horses such as Meisho Bowler, winner of the February Stakes, and Meisho Samson, winner of the Satsuki Shà Â, the Japanese Derby, and both the Spring and Autumn Tenno Sho, among others.
While many leading horse owners make a range of requests to trainersâÂÂsuch as which races to enter or which jockeys to useâÂÂMatsumoto generally left such decisions to trainers, saying he knew nothing about horses and therefore had nothing to add. However, when Meisho Samson was entered in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 2007, he replaced the jockey Mamoru Ishibashi with Yutaka Take. In making the change, he summoned both jockeys and personally persuaded Ishibashi, pleading with him to accept the decisionâÂÂa rare instance of him acting selfishly, according to Nikkan Sports and other news outlets. From the 2010s onward, Matsumoto primarily employed Koshiro Take and Yutaka Take as jockeys for his horses.
On August 23, 2025, Meisho Hakkei, ridden by Riki Takasugi, won a two-year-old debut race, marking Matsumoto's 2,000th victory in the JRAâÂÂa feat never before achieved by an individual racehorse owner. This milestone came in the 27,629th JRA race, counting from Cherry Path's debut, when it finished eighth in the sixth race at Kyoto Racecourse on February 9, 1975. At the time of this achievement, Matsumoto was watching the race from home rather than at the racecourse, and he expressed his gratitude through the JRA. Four days later, he died.
His motto was: "There are people, then there are horses, and then there are people again."
List of horses by earnings