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UAE: Derma Sotogake will seek to become Japan’s first Kentucky Derby winner after sweeping Saturday’s Dubai World Cup undercard UAE Derby [March 25].
Horse trainer Hidetaka Otonashi confirmed that America’s most famous race on May 6 was the colt’s target after a stunning 5.5-long win in the $1 million race guaranteed a start at Churchill Downs The location of the door.
The son of top US sprinter Mind Your Biscuits, Derma Sotogake ran every yard under Christophe Lemaire as Japan headed home with a stunning 1-2-3-4 lead in G2.
Otonashi said the winner will now head straight from Dubai to Kentucky, where five-time JRA champion jockey Lemaire will continue racing.
“This is my first time here and Derma Sotogake is my first runner,” said the coach. “Now I have a contestant and a winner – it doesn’t get any better!
“We didn’t exactly plan to take the lead straight away, but he broke through nicely,” Otonashi continued. “We were expecting him to improve and walk well, but you can never expect things to go that well. We had a different jockey and a different ground, so you could never be sure how well it worked out, but it did.
“He’s going straight from Dubai to Kentucky. We’ll discuss it, but Christophe might keep it—he said he’d keep it anyway!”
Le Maire, who later completed a superb double on the brilliant Equinox at the Sheema Classic in Dubai, added: “He can break slowly, so it’s important that he starts to use his gate on the railing well and he does. …he led the way and he let me loose in the back end. He still moved smoothly for me as we went into the final stretch and once I hit the button he was impressive and I could enjoy it his end.
“I want him to go to America and I’d love to ride him there. How could anyone say no?”
Disappointing was Ballydoyle’s Kentucky Derby May Cairo, who was sent off 9-4 after Dundalk’s comeback win, but only finished 10th out of 13 participants. “It was his first run on dirt and he just didn’t feel like himself,” jockey Ryan Moore said.
Cairo was one point ahead of Bob Baffert-trained Worcester, with Worcester driver Frankie Dettori saying: “I screwed up at the start, It’s been a struggle ever since.”
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