Dieu du Vin Takes First Leg of Japan Road to the Derby

Dieu du Vin, a Declaration of War colt with Frankie Dettori aboard, powered to the lead in the stretch of the Cattleya Sho Nov. 23 at Tokyo Racecourse, ran on to a convincing win, and earned the first points on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby.

The May 2 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) could be in the cards for the colt owned by Three H Racing, provided he continues to progress through the series

The finish was dominated by 2-year-old products of American sires. Shonan Mario, a Toby's Corner colt, finished second, followed by Daimei Corrida (Eskendereya), Aurora Tesoro (Malibu Moon ), and Danon Pharaoh (American Pharoah ).

Dieu du Vin broke behind the early leaders and forced a hole between rivals at the 1,000-meter (about six-furlong) mark to find running room. Swung wide into the stretch, he found nothing but clear sailing through raindrops, winning by three-quarters of a length.

The Tokyo Racecourse dirt track, sloppy with puddles of standing water, was "horrible," Dettori said. "It hasn't stopped raining since I got here."

But Dettori was all praise for Dieu du Vin, who improved his record to 2-for-2.

"It took a bit for the penny to drop," Dettori said. "But once I got him in the clear, he was gone."

Dieu du Vin, out of the Tapit  mare Jealous Cat, made his first start Oct. 26 over the same 1-mile trip on the Tokyo dirt course, finishing in 1:37 on a muddy track. The Cattleya Sho went in 1:36.2.

Dieu du Vin, or "God of Wine" in French, earned 10 points toward an invitation to Churchill Downs. The points scale escalates through the three subsequent races, so the Cattleya Sho is only a head start. But that was enough to excite his owners after accepting the trophy.

The Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby moves to the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun Dec. 18 at Kawasaki with the points offering doubled. On Feb. 16, the series returns to Tokyo Racecourse with the Hyacinth offering points on a 30-12-6-3 scale. Things wrap up March 29 with the Fukuryu Stakes at Nakayama, where the points offered on a 40-16-8-4 scale likely will determine the potential Run for the Roses nominee.

The Japanese series has not produced a Kentucky Derby winner, but it has had an impact on the race.

Lani, who finished third in the 2016 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) after off-the-board efforts in the first two legs of the Triple Crown, won the 2015 Cattleya Sho.

Master Fencer, who finished fourth in the series, accepted the invitation to the 2019 Derby when the top three points-earners declined. The Just a Way colt finished seventh and was placed sixth after the disqualification of Maximum Security. Master Fencer went on to finish fifth in the Belmont Stakes and 13th in the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) in July when he was switched to the turf.