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| Staff Writer |
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Luxor Cafe and Admire Daytona, Japan's Kentucky Derby hopefuls, completed their final serious preparations at Churchill Downs yesterday, each recording identical five-furlong workout times of 1:02 2/5 as they enter the final countdown to Saturday's US$3 million showpiece.
While their American counterparts have already wrapped up their speedwork, the Japanese contenders stuck to their traditional schedule with both colts undertaking serious exercise four days before the big race.
Admire Daytona, winner of the Gr.2 UAE Derby, worked in company with the Dale Romans-trained Greatdayforhockey, while Luxor Cafe completed his exercise solo under the watchful eye of his big-race jockey.
The UAE Derby winner broke off about a length in front of his American workmate, a 3YO Twirling Candy colt who broke his maiden by 5¾ lengths at Keeneland last autumn and has won one of four career starts. Greatdayforhockey was under a hold as he applied light pressure from the outside throughout.
Churchill clockers reported splits of :13 1/5, :25 3/5, and :49 2/5 in a work timed from the half-mile pole extending another furlong past the wire. Under minimal encouragement, the son of 2016 Eclipse champion male sprinter Drefong ran his final furlong in :13 while holding a neck advantage at the wire. The pair galloped out together in 1:16 1/5.
Yukihiro Kato, Admire Daytona's trainer, spoke through an interpreter, Japanese trainer Yoshitake Hashida, explaining that helping his charge recover from his April 5 win in Dubai has been the primary focus.
"We are very happy with his work today, and we think he worked well," Kato said. "Putting Admire Daytona as the leader, we can clock exactly what we want, so that's why he got the front today.
"Admire Daytona's strong point is he doesn't care about the position. He can run his race from any position.
"We are looking very carefully about his mental as well. Sometimes he might lose a little bit of attention on the way, so the jockey and trainer will be watching this and communicating with each other."
Luxor Cafe was reunited yesterday with Hong Kong-based star rider João Moreira, who partnered him for the first time in his five-length victory in the Fukuryu Stakes on March 29 at Nakayama Racecourse. Moreira was so impressed with that performance that he agreed to make Luxor Cafe his first Kentucky Derby mount.
"He's one of a kind," Moreira said at Churchill Downs. "With big horses, you expect them to take a little time to wind up, but with this guy, you just press on him a little, and he goes."
Moreira did not press much in yesterday's work. The son of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah went a little slower early and a little faster down the lane than Admire Daytona despite being kept a bit wide and under a hold through the wire. Churchill Downs reported splits of :13 2/5, :26, and :37 4/5, with Luxor Cafe getting his final quarter in about :24 3/5. Moreira didn't let him do much on the gallop out.
Luxor Cafe also spent extensive time at the starting gate in the one-mile chute and schooled in the paddock. Noriyuki Hori, his trainer, declined to speak with media, but Moreira was effusive about the colt's temperament.
"I'm sure you saw him walking around. He's as cool as you saw him, and you can put him in any situation," Moreira said. "You can put him in a narrow gap, there can be horses passing by, and you can still throw the rein on his neck, and he's just so nice and relaxed.
"He's a really unusual kind of horse. Sometimes he gets me scratching my head. Is he really that relaxed? And can he really be that good while so relaxed? But he is."
Regarding race tactics, Moreira hasn't finalised his plans but believes Luxor Cafe has the acceleration to handle the challenging traffic of the Kentucky Derby.
"I don't want to be that far back, but obviously if they're going too fast, we don't want to get involved. If they're going slow, we want to be as close as possible," Moreira said.
When Hall of Fame rider Jerry Bailey asked about the horse's gate speed, Moreira replied that Luxor Cafe's first two steps are "above average."
"He wouldn't be the fastest horse out. He's carrying so much muscle, but he reacts quickly. He will not be one of the last ones out of that gate. That's for sure," Moreira said. "There are a number of factors we're not sure about, but this guy deserves a crack, because he's been so good in Japan.
"Anywhere you go, any country, races will be different from each other, anywhere. He is racing against some really good contenders. Going into the race, I have full respect for them, but at the same time I believe they have to respect this guy as well. He's very good."
Churchill Downs Asia representative Kate Hunter noted that Luxor Cafe is the higher-rated of the Japanese pair, but she admires the grit Admire Daytona showed in the UAE Derby. Hunter suggests both contenders may be underrated after emerging from a record 70 Japanese horses nominated to the 2025 Triple Crown.
"Japan doesn't have the graded stakes pattern on dirt that produces the fame that a horse can gain in all the prep races here in the U.S. So, with the exception of the UAE Derby, which is a Group Two, there's no race for the Japanese horses to get that black-type graded seal of approval," Hunter said. "That makes it harder for Americans to think outside the box on the Japanese horses' quality.
"However, if you look at the track record of the Hyacinth Stakes and the Fukuryu Stakes of producing quality, Group One-winning horses in Japan on dirt, that will prove there is a lot of talent there. There's just no grade attached to it."