Japan's Crown Pride On Site at Churchill Downs
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Photo: Edward Whitaker/Racing Post
Jockey Damian Lane celebrates a victory from Crown Pride in the UAE Derby at Meydan
Before Master Fencer , Japan's last Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) participant, competed in the 2019 classic, the colt was quarantined in Chicago before traveling to Keeneland and later Churchill Downs.
This year's Japanese representative, Teruya Yoshida's Crown Pride , has taken an earlier and more direct path, having already flown to the United States from Dubai, where he captured the UAE Derby Sponsored by Mubadala (G2) at Meydan March 26. He arrived at Churchill's quarantine facility March 30 and could clear his 42-hour quarantine by 8 a.m. April 1.
The road to @ChurchillDowns has begun for CROWN PRIDE!
Our G2 UAE Derby winner is on his way to America! ✈️#dubaiworldcup pic.twitter.com/GTBiwkEKHB— Dubai Racing Club (@RacingDubai) March 30, 2022
Epicenter and Zozos , the 1-2 finishers from the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2), became the first Derby prospects on the Churchill Downs backstretch when they rolled into the Louisville, Ky., racetrack March 29. The Derby is May 7.
According to Darren Rogers, Churchill Downs' senior director for communications and media services, Crown Pride is the first horse to stable in the track's quarantine barns for an intended race. The barns, built the winter before the 2020 spring meet, have already stabled foreign horses headed to sales, Rogers indicated.
Churchill Downs built the quarantine barns to help spur international participation, which among other benefits, can raise wagering.
The Koichi Shintani-trained Crown Pride is set to become just the second Japanese-bred to run in the 1 1/4-mile Derby after Master Fencer finished sixth in 2019. The Japanese-campaigned Lani, a Kentucky-bred by Tapit , ran ninth in the 2016 Derby.