Derby Pedigrees: Crown Pride brings international flair
Crown Pride entered the UAE Derby off a disappointing sixth-place finish in the Hyacinth Stakes in Japan, his first start of the season and his only career loss. The bay colt has three victories in four starts and $734,569 in earnings.
Crown Pride's trainer Koichi Shintani is Japan's 12th-leading trainer by earnings. The colt's owner Teruya Yoshida is a son of the late Zenya Yoshida, founder of the prominent Shadai Stallion Station. Teruya and his brothers Katsumi and Haruya own breeding farms on the island and jointly run Shadai Stallion Station.
Crown Pride (Reach the Crown (JPN) - Emmy's Pride (JPN), by King Kamehameha (JPN)) carries the bloodlines of American champion Sunday Silence, the cornerstone of Japan's modern breeding program. In addition, triple Crown hero Seattle Slew and the solid Kingmambo also offer stamina attributes.
A grandson of Sunday Silence, Reach the Crown (Special Week (JPN) - Crownpiece (JPN), by Seattle Slew) won at the Group 2 and Group 3 levels between about a mile and 1 1/16 miles. He placed second in the 1 1/2-mile Group 1 Japan Derby, plus two other Group stakes between 1 1/4 miles and 1 1/2 miles.
Reach the Crown retired in 2013; so far, only two of his offspring are group winners, Crown Pride and Kyohei, a Group 3-winning turf sprinter. Although Reach the Crown's dam was bred in Japan, his second dam Classic Crown (Mr. Prospector), won the Frizette (G1) and Gazelle (G1), and she placed in three other Grade 1 races, the Beldame, Ruffian, and Test. Classic Crown's half-brother Chief's Crown (Danzig) was 1984 champion 2-year-old.
Crown Pride's first four dams were bred in Japan, and he is the first foal out of Emmy's Pride (King Kamehameha (JPN) - Emmy's Smile (JPN), by Agnes Tachyon (JPN)). In addition, the mare has a 2-year-old filly by Louisiana Derby (G2) and Forego (G1) winner Pyro.
Although she didn't earn black type, Emmy's Pride won nine of 27 starts as a dirt sprinter. Two of her half-siblings are stakes winners, Emmy's Paradise won from seven to 10 furlongs, and Ho O Emmy's is a stakes-winning turf miler.
Crown Pride's damsire King Kamehameha, a son of the legendary Kingmambo, compiled a five-race win streak as a 3-year-old and set a record for the Japanese Derby, getting about 1 1/2 miles in 2:23. His exploits earned him Japanese champion 3-year-old honors in 2004.
King Kamehameha carried his championship form to the breeding shed, where he was a two-time leading sire. By the time of his death in 2019, he had sired a dozen Group 1 winners, including international sprinter Lord Kanaloa and fillies' Triple Crown winner Apapane.
Kentucky Derby contender or pretender?
UAE Derby winners haven't fared well in Kentucky. Since the race's
inception in 2000, 11 UAE Derby heroes have made the long trek to race in
the Kentucky Derby. Unfortunately, none placed higher than sixth, and two
didn't finish the Kentucky Derby.
Experience racing over U.S. soil didn't matter. Three UAE Derby winners were based here, while three others had competed in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.
Two Japanese-based colts have contested the Kentucky Derby. Master Fencer, bred in Japan, was moved to sixth place in the 2019 Kentucky Derby after Maximum Security's disqualification. However, he stuck around to finish fifth in the Belmont Stakes.
The quirky Lani, bred in Kentucky, was ninth in the 2016 Kentucky Derby; he finished fifth in the Preakness and third in the Belmont Stakes.
Crown Pride answered the distance question in the UAE Derby. But shipping to Kentucky on less than seven weeks of rest, going through quarantine, and then facing 19 other colts in a new environment is a lot to ask of a lightly raced colt.