Admire Daytona Wins UAE Derby, Heading to Kentucky

Japan’s recent dominance in the UAE Derby (G2) continued April 5 at Meydan Racecourse as Admire Daytona scraped home over Heart of Honor in a thrilling photo finish, earning a berth in the Kentucky Derby (G1).

The Japanese-bred son of triple grade 1 winner Drefong made all of the running but was pushed to the limit in the closing stages and only just held on by a short head. The victory marked Japan’s fourth consecutive win in the race following the strikes of Crown Pride , Derma Sotogake , and the exceptional Forever Young last year. Forever Young went on to finish a close third in the Kentucky Derby.

Trainer Yukihiro Kato confirmed that Admire Daytona would go to the Kentucky Derby. This year the UAE Derby was removed from the main Road to the Kentucky Derby and moved to the European-Middle East road. The 100 points earned with the UAE Derby win ensures that Admire Daytona will finish atop those points standings.

Admire Daytona completed the 1,900-meter (about 1 3/16-mile race) in 1:59.13 on a fast track.

“Honestly, I thought I’d won but it was very tight so you never get too happy, too early,” said winning rider Christophe Lemaire. “The Japanese horses come here with quite a bit of experience at home. For us, they arrive near their best this early in the season—not too much racing but also with plenty of experience. I think they like the Meydan dirt track too. For sure he can go to Kentucky, but it is such a difficult race to win. It is one of the most iconic races in the world and we have to go if we can.”

In the stretch for a brief moment it looked as if Admire Daytona would yield to the blinkered Heart of Honor under Saffie Osborne producing a rally in the final strides. However, the Japanese colt responded willingly to Lemaire’s urgings to score, prompting joyous celebrations for the Japanese contingent and agony for the British runner.

Heart of Honor’s trainer Jamie Osborne won the race in 2014 with Toast of New York , who was denied in his own photo finish to the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) that November. This time his daughter Saffie, who in February became the first woman to win a race at Meydan, was in the saddle of the runner-up, sired by Lane’s End stallion Honor A. P.

Japan’s Don in the Mood finished third. United States-based Flood Zone , the favorite in the field of nine, was bumped early and jockey Florent Geroux said he never traveled well in finishing seventh.

“Disappointed to be honest. 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 traveled, never grabbed the bit, and just kept going backwards,” Geroux said of the son of Frosted who entered off a clear victory in the Gotham Stakes (G3). “It was too bad to be true.”

The Emirates Racing Authority result noted that a postrace “endoscopic examination revealed a degree of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage that may have affected the performance.”

The winner was bred in Japan by Northern Racing out of the Shackleford mare Ice Pastel. Admire Daytona’s sire Drefong was the 2016 Eclipse champion male sprinter off a 4-for-4 campaign that culminated with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1). A son of Gio Ponti, Drefong stands at Shadai Stallion Station in Japan.