Admire Daytona noses out Heart of Honor in UAE Derby thriller

Japan-based Admire Daytona earned his way to Kentucky Derby 2025 after nosing out UAE-based Heart of Honor in a thrilling rendition of the Group 2 UAE Derby.

Admire Daytona was forward from the outset, battling inside of long shot Rafid from the early stages. Around the far turn Heart of Honor engaged between and Don in the Mood rallied three wide, leading to a three-way battle into the lane.

However, Don in the Mood flattened out in the final sixteenth, leaving Admire Daytona and Heart of Honor to continue the battle. Heart of Honor drifted out slightly in the late stages and continued to duel with Admire Daytona, but on the line Admire Daytona got his nose down to win in 1:59.14 for 1 3/16 miles on fast dirt. He paid $22.20 in the pari-mutuel World Pool.

Don in the Mood held for third over Shin Forever. Flood Zone, the only U.S.-based horse in the field, tracked midfield but never unleashed a threatening run in the lane and checked in only seventh. Florent Geroux, rider of Flood Zone, said after the race that "he broke well, I thought I was going to be in a good spot. I let the speed go, I tucked behind the two leaders and got down to the rail. From there, as soon as we hit the first turn, he never travelled, never grabbed the bit and just kept going backwards. It was too bad to be true."

A 3-year-old son of Drefong out of the Shackleford mare Ice Pastel, Admire Daytona is now 4: 2-1-0. A maiden winner two starts ago going a mile at Tokyo, he finished fourth behind Luxor Cafe in the Hyacinth Stakes at Tokyo on Feb. 23, his stakes debut and his last race before Dubai. The race earned Admire Daytona 100 points on the Europe-Middle East road to the Kentucky Derby, enough to earn him a spot in the run for the roses.

The win was the second for jockey Christophe Lemaire in the UAE Derby, who also won the race in 2023 with Derma Sotogake. It was the first UAE Derby win for trainer Yukihiro Kato.

This was the fourth year in a row that a horse based in Japan won the UAE Derby. Crown Pride began the streak in 2022 followed by Derma Sotogake, Forever Young and now Admire Daytona. He is the fifth Japan-based horse overall to win the race. The first was Lani, in 2016.

In a post-race interview on the Meydan track feed, when asked about the Kentucky Derby, jockey Lemaire acknowledged that the Kentucky Derby was a difficult spot, but stated, "we have to go." According to a release from Dubai Racing Club, Kato confirmed after the race that Admire Daytona would go to the Kentucky Derby.

Admire Daytona is not yet nominated for the Triple Crown, and his connections would have to pay a $3,000 nomination fee by close of business Monday in order to nominate late. Heart of Honor, Don in the Mood and Hotazhell are the next three in line, though none of them are nominated for the Kentucky Derby either.

Queen Azteca, who finished fifth in the UAE Derby, is not yet nominated to the Kentucky Oaks though she earned 50 points for winning the UAE Oaks (G3) and her fifth-place finish in the UAE Derby would put her at the top of that tiebreaker. Her connections would have to pay a $1,500 fee by Monday in order to nominate her.