Fukuryu S.

The Japanese Road to the Kentucky Derby remains a wide-open affair, but the fourth and final leg of the series, Saturday's $226,736 Fukuryu Stakes (allowance) at Nakayama Racecourse, will be the final piece to the puzzle, with a field of 10 set to face the starter. The 'most valuable' of the races, with a total of 84 points on a 40-20-12-8-4 scale, technically any of the entrants can emerge with the automatic berth, some control their own destiny while others will need some luck. Though he has yet to participate...

A very impressive winner of the Listed Hyacinth Stakes going Tokyo's one-turn mile on Feb. 23, Koichi Nishikawa's Luxor Cafe (American Pharoah) was even more eyecatching when taking out Saturday's $228,217 Fukuryu Stakes (allowance) at Nakayama by five dominating lengths over the metric nine furlongs. The 40 points earned for the victory took his Kentucky Derby points total to 70, good for the automatic berth on the first Saturday in May, should connections opt to take up the assignment. Favored at 3-10 with Joao Moreira taking over from the record-setting...

Delicada (Jpn) (Pyro) went for a gap from between horses in the dying strides and it proved a decisive move, as she was along for a neck victory in Saturday's Fukuryu S. (allowance) at Nakayama Racecourse. Facing no other rivals that had previously accumulated points on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, Delicada has the right of first refusal for a berth in the race, having earned 40 points to shoot to the head of the class. She was not an original nominee to the Triple Crown series. Perfect...

Prominent every step of the 1800-meter journey despite a somewhat awkward draw, God Selection (Jpn) (Novellist {Ire}) took command in the straight and drew clear to win Saturday's Fukuryu S. (allowance) at Nakayama, earning 40 points on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby in the process. Ridden for speed from the 13 hole in a field of 14, God Selection was down into the two path and prompted the pace from second as Lord Strom (Jpn) (Makfi {GB}) galloped them along. Ridden cold on the turn and into the...

Nakayama Racecourse plays host to the $315,808 Fukuryu S. Saturday afternoon, an allowance race that serves as the last of the four legs on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby and carries a total of 68 points for the first four finishers. The winner of the 1800-meter test earns 40 points, and with none of the horses who saluted in the first three legs taking part, a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May is all but assured. Your History (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}), a debut...

Nakayama Racecourse played host to the $320,629 Fukuryu S. Saturday, an allowance race that serves as the fourth and final scheduled leg on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. With the Run for the Roses delayed to early September, there could be more Japanese points races to follow, but with his 26-1 upset in the 1800-meter test, Herrschaft (Will Take Charge) earned 40 points and--at least for the time being--the Japanese berth in the starting gate at Churchill Downs. Away fairly from gate two, Herrschaft led them under the...

American-conceived Danon Pharaoh (Jpn) (American Pharoah {Jpn}) has drawn the widest gate in a field of 13 for Saturday's ¥34.6 million ($320,253) Fukuryu S. (allowance) at Nakayama Racecourse, the final of four scheduled points race on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. A debut second to the talented Dieu du Vin (Jpn) (Declaration of War), the son of 2010 GI Santa Anita Oaks victress Crisp (El Corredor) was a sound fifth to that rival in the first leg of the series, the Nov. 23 Cattleya Sho (allowance) at Tokyo....