Natural Rise wins 1st Japan road to the Kentucky Derby points

Edited Churchill Downs news release
Photo: Eclipse Sportswire

Hiroyuki Yoshioka’s Natural Rise remained undefeated after holding off a late charge from Clay King to win Saturday’s Cattleya Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse, the kickoff race on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby.

With his victory in the Cattleya Stakes, Natural Rise earned 10 qualifying points on the Japan road to the Kentucky Derby.

Click here for Churchill Downs entries and results.

Ridden by Takeshi Yokoyama for trainer Keizo Ito, Natural Rise finished three-quarters of a length ahead of Clay King, piloted by Christophe Lemaire. T O Elvis, Snappy Dresser and Kanreiski rounded out the top five. They earned five, three, two and one qualifying points, respectively.

Natural Rise is now perfect in two starts. His lone start before the Cattleya Stakes was a maiden-breaking performance July 20 at Sapporo.

The undefeated colt is a Japan-bred son of Kizuna out of the Distorted Humor mare Lady Madonna.

The next race on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby is the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun, set for Dec. 11 at Kawasaki.

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