Epicharis Begins Journey to Belmont Park

Carrot Farm's UAE Derby Sponsored by the Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group (G2) runner-up Epicharis is one step closer to his bid for the Belmont Stakes (G1) June 10, as he emerged from a May 24 breeze in good order and entered isolation in Japan, according to trainer Kiyoshi Hagiwara.

The Japanese-bred colt by Gold Allure, a son of 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes (both G1) winner Sunday Silence, was moved Thursday to the quarantine barn at the Japan Racing Association's Miho Training Center to begin his week-long isolation before shipping to North America. Epicharis is scheduled to arrive at Belmont Park June 1, after a roughly 24-hour trip.

On Wednesday, Epicharis worked five furlongs over an uphill woodchip course in 1:05 1/5 under assistant trainer Masaaki Minamida at Miho. The horse was caught in splits of :12 3/5 for the first eighth-mile, :36 4/5 for three-eighths, and :50 4/5 for a half-mile, according to Hagiwara.

"I am pleased with his work," Hagiwara said. "He looks fine and he moved sharply. He has been doing well. Considering the long trip to Belmont via Anchorage and Chicago, I will give him one more timed work in Japan at the same course on Sunday and the last one will be at Belmont on Tuesday or Wednesday the week of the race."

Epicharis was undefeated as a 2-year-old in his homeland, where he won his first three starts by a combined 25 lengths. As a 3-year-old, the colt stamped himself a legitimate Triple Crown contender with a three-quarter-length victory in the Hyacinth Stakes at Tokyo in February and suffered the only loss of his career with a hard-fought second to Thunder Snow in the March 25 UAE Derby at Meydan.

A start in the Belmont Stakes will make Epicharis eligible for New York Racing Association's $1 million bonus offered to any Japan-based winner of the third leg of the Triple Crown. Introduced for the 2017 classic season, the entire bonus would be awarded to the winning Japanese horse's connections in addition to the $800,000 winner's share of the purse for the last and longest leg of the series.

Additionally, Japanese wagering on the 1 1/2-mile "test of the champion" received final regulatory approval, making the 2017 Belmont Stakes the first U.S. Triple Crown event available for pari-mutuel wagering in Japan.

Japanese wagering on the Belmont Stakes will be conducted through a separate, non-comingled pool.