Lemon Pop Takes First Leg on Japan's Road to the Derby

Lemon Pop, a Kentucky-bred colt by Lane's End stallion Lemon Drop Kid , grabbed the first leg of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby Nov. 28 with a stretch-running victory in the Cattleya Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse.

The race was the first in a series of four Churchill Downs-sanctioned events with the eventual top points-getter earning a guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the 2021 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

Lemon Pop, with Keita Tosaki up, broke alertly from the inside gate in a field of 11 and saved ground down the backstretch while the favorite, Takeru Pegasus, opened a big lead for jockey Christophe Lemaire. Lemon Pop came outside that rival at the top of the stretch and wore him down in a long drive, eventually getting clear in the final 50 meters to win by 1 1/2 lengths.

It was another 10 lengths to Plus Ultra in third. Shin Yomoginesu finished fourth. The 1,600 meters (about one mile) around one sweeping turn on the Tokyo Racecourse dirt, was clocked in 1:36.4.

Lemon Pop, out of the Giant's Causeway mare Unreachable, was the only non-Japanese-bred 2-year-old in the Cattleya. Bred by Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Tait, he races in the Godolphin blue and remains undefeated after two starts.

Lemon Pop earned 10 points for the victory with Takeru Pegasus collecting four, Plus Ultra two, and Shin Yomoginesu one.

The Japan Road next winds to Kawasaki, a National Association of Racing facility, for the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun Dec. 16, with the points awards doubled. The NAR tracks are run under local jurisdiction and host much of Japan's dirt racing program.

The third leg, the Hyacinth Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse, offers points on a 30-12-6-3 scale to its top four finishers, and the finale, the Fukuryu Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse, ups the points scale to 40-16-8-4.

The Japan series, like the European Road to the Kentucky Derby, is separate from the main competition that includes the major prep races in the United States and the UAE Derby (G2) in Dubai. Designed to build global interest and boost overseas wagering for the signature American race, the international program has not produced a Derby winner but its participants have made their mark on the U.S. Triple Crown series.

The 2015 Cattleya winner, Lani, competed in all three Triple Crown events in 2016, finishing off the board in the first two but then taking third in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1).

Master Fencer finished fourth in the 2018-19 series but got the invitation to the 2019 Derby when the top three points-earners declined. The Just a Way colt finished seventh, placed sixth after the disqualification of Maximum Security . He 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.

None of the participants in the 2019-20 series accepted the invitation to Louisville for this year's pandemic-delayed Run for the Roses.