Japan's Kentucky Derby (G1) contenders Luxor Cafe and Admire Daytona continued their now familiar, extended acclimation exercises at Churchill Downs April 29 but they finally got down to business with both colts working five furlongs in their last major pre-Derby drills.
While the American-based contenders have finished their speed work barring a late-week blowout, it is common for Japanese trainers to work their horses four days before a race, Churchill Downs Asia representative Kate Hunter said, though their times are generally slower than American-style drills.
They did not work together—Luxor Cafe went by himself, and Admire Daytona worked with the Dale Romans trainee Greatdayforhockey—but they stopped the timer identically at 1:02 2/5.
The UAE Derby (G2) winner Admire Daytona broke off about a length in front of his American workmate, a 3-year-old Twirling Candy colt who broke his maiden by 5 3/4 lengths at the Keeneland fall meeting in a $50,000 maiden claiming race and has won one of four career starts. Greatdayforhockey was under a hold as he applied light pressure to his Japanese workmate from the outside throughout the move.
Churchill clockers reported splits of :13 1/5, :25 3/5, and :49 2/5 in a work timed from the half-mile pole extending another furlong past the wire. Under very little encouragement from his rider, the son of 2016 Eclipse champion male sprinter Drefong ran his final furlong in :13 to stop the clock in 1:02 2/5 while holding a neck advantage at the wire. The pair galloped out together in 1:16 1/5.
Admire Daytona's trainer Yukihiro Kato spoke with media after the work through an interpreter, Japanese trainer Yoshitake Hashida. Kato said helping Admire Daytona recover from his April 5 win in Dubai, a race that was held a week later than normal this year, has been foremost in his training at Churchill. However, following a slow half-mile breeze in :53 1/5 April 22—the slowest of 33 works at the distance that day—Kato wanted to push Admire Daytona a little more Tuesday, and that was the reason he breezed in company.
"We are very happy with his work today, and we think he worked well," Kato said. "Putting Admire Daytona as the leader, we can clock exactly what we want, so that's why he got the front today.
"Admire Daytona's strong point is he doesn't care about the position. He can run his race from any position.
"We are looking very carefully about his mental as well. Sometimes he might lose a little bit of attention on the way, so the jockey and trainer will be watching this and communicating with each other."
Luxor Cafe
Luxor Cafe was reunited Tuesday with Hong Kong-based star rider João Moreira, who rode him for the first time in his five-length victory in the Fukuryu Stakes March 29 at Nakayama Racecourse. Moreira was so impressed with that performance that he agreed to make Luxor Cafe his first Kentucky Derby mount.
"He's one of a kind," Moreira said Tuesday at Churchill Downs. "With big horses, you expect them to take a little time to wind up, but with this guy, you just press on him a little, and he goes."
Moreira did not press on Luxor Cafe much in Tuesday's work. The son of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah went a little slower early and a little faster down the lane than Admire Daytona despite Moreira keeping Luxor Cafe a bit wide and under a hold through the wire. Churchill Downs reported splits of :13 2/5, :26, and :37 4/5, with Luxor Cafe getting his final quarter in about :24 3/5. Moreira didn't let Luxor Cafe do much on the gallop out.
Luxor Cafe also spent extensive time at the starting gate in the one-mile chute and schooled in the paddock. Trainer Noriyuki Hori declined to speak with media. Moreira said he likes the colt's mentality coming into the Derby.
"I'm sure you saw him walking around. He's as cool as you saw him, and you can put him in any situation," Moreira said. "You can put him in a narrow gap, there can be horses passing by, and you can still throw the rein on his neck, and he's just so nice and relaxed.
"He's a really unusual kind of horse. Sometimes he gets me scratching my head. Is he really that relaxed? And can he really be that good while so relaxed? But he is."
Moreira said he hasn't played out the pace scenario of the Derby yet, but he thinks Luxor Cafe has the acceleration to deal with the challenging traffic and tight gaps the Kentucky Derby often presents.
"I don't wanna be that far back, but obviously if they're going too fast, we don't want to get involved. If they're going slow, we want to be as close as possible," Moreira said.
Asked by Hall of Fame rider Jerry Bailey how good he is out of the gate, Moreira said Luxor Cafe's first two steps are "above average."
"He wouldn't be the fastest horse out. He's carrying so much muscle, but he reacts quickly. He will not be one of the last ones out of that gate. That's for sure," Moreira said. "There are a number of factors we're not sure about, but this guy deserves a crack, because he's been so good in Japan.
"Anywhere you go, any country, races will be different from each other, anywhere. He is racing against some really good contenders. Going into the race, I have full respect for them, but at the same time I believe they have to respect this guy as well. He's very good."
Hunter said Luxor Cafe is the higher-rated of the Japanese pair, but she also loves the grit Admire Daytona showed in the UAE Derby. Hunter said both of this year's Japanese contenders may be a little underrated after emerging from a record 70 Japanese horses nominated to the 2025 Triple Crown. (There were 69 original Japan nominees, and Admire Daytona was a late nomination.)
"Japan doesn't have the graded stakes pattern on dirt that produces the fame that a horse can gain in all the prep races here in the U.S. So with the exception of the UAE Derby, which is a group 2, there's no race for the Japanese horses to get that black-type graded seal of approval," Hunter said. "That makes it harder for Americans to think outside the box on the Japanese horses' quality.
"However, if you look at the track record of the Hyacinth Stakes and the Fukuryu Stakes of producing quality, group 1-winning horses in Japan on dirt, that will prove there is a lot of talent there. There's just no grade attached to it."
