Cafe Pharoah, Full Flat Pursue Derby in Unicorn Stakes

Cafe Pharoah, the qualifying points leader on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, defends his position June 21 at Tokyo Racecourse against 15 rivals, including Full Flat, winner of the inaugural Saudi Derby at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh.

Both are Kentucky-bred and both are Triple Crown nominees. Full Flat, a Speightstown  colt, finished his 2019 campaign with a fifth-place showing in the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Santa Anita Park. Cafe Pharoah, a son of 2015 Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner American Pharoah , started only once as a juvenile, winning a "newcomer" race at Nakayama.

Now they hook up in the one-mile Unicorn Stakes (G3) with a bid to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) at Churchill Downs potentially on the line.

Cafe Pharoah was the points leader after the four races of the original 2020 Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. But, when the 2020 Triple Crown schedule was scrambled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, two races were added to the Japanese competition and he now has to defend his right to an automatic bid to the delayed Run for the Roses.

Thus, the colt, bred by Paul Pompa and out of the More Than Ready  mare Mary's Follies, finds himself among 16 3-year-olds set for Sunday's Unicorn Stakes. He drew the outside gate for the race over the Tokyo Racecourse dirt.

Damian Lane is booked to ride Cafe Pharoah for trainer Noriyuki Hori. He enters the Unicorn with a record of two starts, two wins. In his only start this year, he won the Hyacinth Stakes over the course and distance Feb. 23—a victory that earned 30 points and vaulted him to the top of the preference list among eligible horses.

The Unicorn awards 40 points to the winner with 16, 8 and 4 for the minor placings so Cafe Pharoah's lead is far from safe.

Full Flat, out of the Medaglia d'Oro  mare Golden Flair, was bred by Sierra Farm. He found the winner's circle in his second start last August at Kokura Racecourse, then posted a fifth-place finish at Kyoto before the Breeders' Cup expedition to Santa Anita. He was second in a warm-up race in January before winning the Saudi Derby Feb. 29 in his last start.

Katsuharu Tanaka will ride Full Flat, starting from the 14 stall.

Two others in the Unicorn field already have Kentucky Derby points. Dieu du Vin, a Declaration of War colt, won the Cattleya Sho on Japan Cup (G1) weekend in November, snagging 20 points. And Tagano Beauty earned 12 by finishing second to Cafe Pharoah in the Hyacinth.

There are two other American-breds in the Unicorn. Lecce Baroque, an Uncle Mo  filly, is 2-for-2 against easier. Aurora Tesoro, a son of Malibu Moon , has two wins from 10 starts and was fourth in the Cattleya Sho.

The expanded Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby winds up July 8 with the Japan Dirt Derby at Ohi, a locally administered regional track in Tokyo. That event also awards points on the 40-16-8-4 scale.