Kentucky Derby trail: Pharoah colt is favored in Japan prep

Luxor Cafe, an American Pharoah colt who is a two-time winner in Japan, was the 1-2 favorite in early betting for this weekend's US$242,586 Hyacinth Stakes for 3-year-olds at Tokyo Racecourse.

The 1,600-meter contest that is about one mile around one turn mostly on dirt is the third of four races on the Japan road to the Kentucky Derby. With eight colts and two fillies entered, the Hyacinth will be run as the ninth race on the card with a post time of Sunday at 12:25 a.m. EST, Saturday at 9:25 p.m. PST.

Breaking from post 9, Luxor Cafe most recently was ridden to victory by Ryan Moore in the Jan. 11 Kurochiku Sho at Nakayama. Owned by Koichi Nishikawa and trained by Noriyuki Hori, he will have Rachel King in the irons for this race.

The Hyacinth awards qualifying points on a 30-15-9-6-3 scale to the top five finishers. In the 10-horse field, all of the entrants are Triple Crown nominated except for Admire Daytona and Don in the Mood. The only entrant who has points so far is Happy Man, who earned 10 Japan road to the Kentucky Derby points with a second-place finish behind the filly Myriad Love in the Nisai Yushun on Dec. 11 at Kawasaki.

The only Japan qualifier after the Hyacinth is the Fukuryu, scheduled for March 29 at Nakayama. That race offers 40-20-12-8-4 points. The Japan road to the Kentucky Derby offers a maximum of one invitation into the starting gate at Churchill Downs on May 3.

Although no horse has yet hit the board in the run for the roses after qualifying through the prep series in Japan, a Japan-based horse hit the board for the first time in 2024. That was Forever Young, who earned Japan points with a win in the Nisai Yushun but punched his ticket with a victory in the Grade 2 UAE Derby.