Latest news with #AdmireDaytona
USA Today
03-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Admire Daytona trainer, jockey, owner and more to know about 2025 Kentucky Derby horse
Admire Daytona trainer, jockey, owner and more to know about 2025 Kentucky Derby horse Show Caption Hide Caption Bob Baffert: Kentucky Derby, Triple Crown championships and controversy Horse racing trainer Bob Baffert has multiple Kentucky Derby wins, two Triple Crown champions, and a career marked by both triumph and controversy. Admire Daytona will enter the Kentucky Derby off a win in the UAE Derby on April 5 at Meydan Admire Daytona will try to become the first Japan-bred to win the Kentucky Derby Admire Daytona is one of 20 horses expected to enter the 2025 Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs. Spots for the Run for the Roses are earned by gaining points through a series of Kentucky Derby prep races that began last September. The post-position draw for the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, April 26. Post time for the Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 3. Admire Daytona will enter the Kentucky Derby off a victory in the Group 2 UAE Derby on April 5 at Meydan. He qualified for the Run for the Roses as the winner of the Euro/Mideast Road to the Kentucky Derby. Color: Bay. Bred in: Japan. Sire: Drefong. Dam: Ice Pastel, by Shackleford. Price tag: $480,276 at 2022 Japan Racing Horse Association Select Yearling and Foal Sale. Owner: Junko Kondo. First Derby. Trainer: Yukihiro Kato. First Derby. Jockey: Christophe Lemaire. He's 0 for 2 in the Derby, best finish coming with Derma Sotogake (sixth) in 2023. Record: 2-2-0 in six starts. Career earnings: $672,047. Road to the Kentucky Derby points: Qualified via Euro/Mideast Road to the Kentucky Derby. Last race: Won Group 2 UAE Derby on April 5 at Meydan by a nose over Heart of Honor. Running style: Pace-setter in UAE Derby. Notes: Admire Daytona broke his maiden Feb. 8 in his fourth career start in Tokyo, then finished fourth in the Hyacinth Stakes before winning the UAE Derby. … Since 2019, six horses bred in Japan have competed in the Kentucky Derby. The top finisher was Forever Young, who came in third in 2024. … Admire Daytona was beaten twice by Luxor Café, who will compete in the Run for the Roses via the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. What they're saying: 'For sure he can go to Kentucky, but it is such a difficult race to win,' Lemaire said after the UAE Derby. 'It is one of the most iconic races in the world, and we have to go if we can.' Last May, NBC Sports announced a partnership with Churchill Downs to present the Kentucky Derby on NBC and Peacock through 2032. The extension includes multiplatform rights to the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks and Derby and Oaks Day programming, which will be presented on NBC, Peacock, USA Network and additional NBCU platforms. You can stream the 2025 Kentucky Derby on Fubo and Peacock. Post time for the 151st Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 3. Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@ Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ. More horse racing: Sovereignty, a top 2025 Kentucky Derby contender, gives Bill Mott another chance at roses
Japan Forward
03-05-2025
- Sport
- Japan Forward
Chasing Victory in the 151st Kentucky Derby
Japan-based thoroughbreds Luxor Cafe and Admire Daytona, ridden by Joao Moreira and Christophe Lemaire, respectively, are set to compete in the Kentucky Derby. Kentucky Derby entrant Luxor Cafe gallops on April 28 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. (©CHURCHILL DOWNS/COADY MEDIA) In 2015, American Pharoah ended a decades-long drought, becoming the first winner of the American Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978. It all started with his one-length victory in the Kentucky Derby on May 2. Now, 10 years later, American Pharoah-sired Luxor Cafe, who was foaled in Kentucky and developed in Japan, will race in the 151st Kentucky Derby. The first leg of the Triple Crown is on Saturday evening, May 3 (Sunday morning at 7:57 AM JST) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. A field of 20 horses was announced earlier in the week. Rodriguez, one of six-time winning trainer Bob Baffert's entrants, was scratched, and Baeza filled the vacant spot. On Friday, Grande was also forced to pull out due to a foot injury, reducing the field to 19. Luxor Cafe brings a steady flow of success to Derby Day, carrying a four-race win streak dating back to 2024. This year, the 3-year-old colt has triumphed in the Kurochiku Sho (January 11, Nakayama Racecourse), the Hyacinth Stakes (February 23, Tokyo Racecourse) and the Fukuryu Stakes (March 29, Nakayama). Brazilian jockey Joao Moreira, who will sit aboard Luxor Cafe, rode him for the first time in the horse's latest race. What was Moreira's impression of Luxor Cafe after they teamed up for a five-length victory? "I thought he was going to win, but he kind of won so much more impressively than I thought," Moreira said, according to the Louisville Courier Journal . "Obviously, the field wasn't as strong as the race he'll be running on Saturday. But he's done what a good horse does." Veteran Japanese trainer Noriyuki Hori and owner Koichi Nishikawa have supervised Luxor Cafe's rise from foal to Kentucky Derby entrant. Trainer Michael McCarthy's Journalism, Italian jockey Umberto Rispoli's ride, was listed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite on Friday to win the Derby. Journalism was assigned the No 8 post. Updated odds listed him as the 7-2 favorite later in the day. Journalism arrived in Louisville with three wins in a row, including, most recently, in the G2 San Felipe Stakes by 1¾ lengths on March 1 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The possibility of a victory at Churchill Downs would be the ultimate thrill, according to Journalism co-owner Aron Wellman. "It gives me chills," Wellman told The Athletic. "There is so much emotion with this race. Nothing compares to the Kentucky Derby. It transcends the sport." Admire Daytona prepares for the 2025 Kentucky Derby. (CHURCHILL DOWNS/COADY MEDIA) Luxor Cafe, a 13-1 longshot, has the No 7 post position. To Luxor Cafe's left in the starting gate, the No 6 slot, will be Japan-bred 38-1 longshot Admire Daytona, piloted by Christophe Lemaire. Moreira, 41, is making his Kentucky Derby debut. Saturday's Derby will be Lemaire's third. "It's such an exciting race, such an exciting event that I couldn't miss the opportunity to ride Admire Daytona," Lemaire said in a video interview after arriving in Louisville. As a 42-year-old, he made his debut in the most famous horse race in America in 2022 aboard Crown Pride, finishing 13th. A year later, Lemaire guided Derma Sotogake to a sixth-place finish. To qualify for the Kentucky Derby, Lemaire and Admire Daytona competed in the G2 UAE Derby, contested over 1,900 meters, in Dubai on April 5. Admire Daytona triumphed by a nose to secure a berth in the American Triple Crown opener. It was the longest race of Admire Daytona's career (two wins and two runner-up finishes in six races); the previous five were all 1,600-meter events. The Kentucky Derby covers 2,012 meters. Christophe Lemaire is seen after winning the TV Tokyo Hai Aoba Sho, his 2,000th Japan Racing Association victory, on April 26 at Tokyo Racecourse. (©SANKEI) Lemaire has ridden Admire Daytona in four races, giving him ample knowledge of the horse's strengths and riding traits. "He's shown a lot of class, a lot of potential," Lemaire said in the interview posted on TwinSpires' YouTube channel. "When he got beat in Tokyo by Luxor Cafe [in November 2024], it was just by a nose. But both horses were very brave and we broke the track record on that occasion in a maiden race. So it shows that both horses are really good." For Admire Daytona's owner, Junko Kondo, and trainer, Yukihiro Kato, this'll be their first Kentucky Derby. Jockey Joao Moreira in an April 2025 file photo. (©SANKEI) As noted earlier, Moreira is also making his first appearance in the American Triple Crown opener. It's a big deal for him, another milestone in a career that has taken him from Brazil to Asia, where he established himself as a prolific winner in Singapore and Hong Kong. Moreira has also had noteworthy success of late in Japan, winning three Grade 1 races at three different racetracks in 2025: Takamatsunomiya Kinen (March 30), Oka Sho (April 13) and Satsuki Sho (April 20). In an interview with the Louisville Courier Journal , Moreira summed up this weekend's opportunity by saying, "It's like a dream coming true." American trainer Wesley Ward has kept a close eye on Moreira's racing career for more than a decade. In fact, Ward invited him to train in the United States in 2013. But at that time the Brazilian opted to move from Singapore to Hong Kong, the racing website Idol Horse reported in April 2025. More than a decade later, Ward remains in awe of Moreira's skills as a thoroughbred rider. "I don't know if it was or wasn't the right decision [for him to move to Hong Kong], because at that time he was going to do great anywhere he went, whether that was Australia or England, or anywhere," Ward said, according to a Moreira profile published by Idol Horse. "He was just a tremendously talented guy and whatever a horse would run on a daily basis, you put him on and they'd run faster, for whatever reason that is." Ward added, "He caught my eye, the way he finished on a horse and the way he rode the races, he was certainly an exceptional talent." Luxor Cafe (CHURCHILL DOWNS/COADY MEDIA) The 2025 Kentucky Derby field will include four previous race winners: Javier Castellano, Flavien Prat, Joel Rosario and Brian Hernandez Jr, who guided Mystik Dan to victory in 2024. There are, of course, no guarantees that Moreira will emerge victorious in the 151st Kentucky Derby. Numerous factors could determine the outcome of the race. Moreira does, however, believe that Luxor Cafe can win it. "He has a chance and deserves some respect," Moreira told Idol Horse. "Japanese horses are doing so well around the world and I am getting on board a horse that has done everything to make me believe that he can compete well there." Author: Ed Odeven Find Ed on JAPAN Forward' s dedicated website, SportsLook . Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven .
New York Post
02-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Kentucky Derby 2025 odds, horses, jockeys and complete bettor's guide
An inside look at how the 151st Kentucky Derby will shape up: 1. Citizen Bull (20-1) Jockey: Martin Garcia Advertisement Trainer: Bob Baffert Current form: The 2-year-old Breeders Cup Juvenile champ got his 3-year-old campaign started by winning a Grade 3, but stopped badly in the Santa Anita Derby won by Journalism. Worth a wager: Last year, the speedy Dornoch drew the rail. That didn't go very well. Citizen will have to be a raging bull to get position. Too much to overcome. Eleventh. Advertisement 10 Citizen Bull works out on Friday in preparation for Saturday's 151st Kentucky Derby. AP 2. Neoequos (30-1) Jockey: Luis Saez Trainer: Saffie Joseph Current form: Showed the way in the Fountain of Youth and the Florida Derby before settling for third behind Sovereignty in both. Advertisement Worth a wager: Not convinced he wants more distance. Wins were earned while sprinting. No one riding better than Flavien Prat but more inside trouble makes us put him 17th. 3. Final Gambit (30-1) Jockey: Luan Machado Trainer: Brad Cox Current form: Brings a two-race winning streak to Churchill Downs. Both races run over the synthetic surface at Turfway Park. Closed from last of 12 to take the Jeff Ruby Steaks. Advertisement Worth a wager: Beat Flying Mohawk in the Ruby but this is a tough spot to make your dirt debut. Sired by Not This Time. Enough said. A respectable 12th. 10 Final Gambit works out on Friday in preparation for Saturday's 151st Kentucky Derby. AP 5. American Promise (30-1) Jockey: Nik Juarez Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas Current form: Finished off the board in both the Southwest stake and the Risen Star but woke up in a big way to win the Virginia Derby by 7+ lengths. Worth a wager: Has made the most starts (nine) but has enjoyed the most rest (seven weeks). D. Wayne Lukas' colt didn't beat much in Virginia. Stalks, flattens to be 13th. 6. Admire Daytona (30-1) Jockey: Christophe Lemaire Trainer: Yukihiro Kato Advertisement Current form: It took the Japan-bred four starts to break his maiden. Two starts later he won the UAE Derby at Meydan by a nose. Worth a wager: The Dubai-to-Derby plan has a history of epic failure. We loved Forever Young in the 2024 Derby and he ran a thisclose third. Maybe next year. 15th. 10 Admire Daytona works out on Friday in preparation for Saturday's 151st Kentucky Derby. Getty Images 7. Luxor Cafe (15-1) Jockey: Joao Moreira Advertisement Trainer: Noriyuki Hori Current form: Brings a four-race winning streak from Japan including a pair of 9-furlong stakes. Outkicked Admire Daytona when they met in Tokyo. Worth a wager: Kentucky-bred returns home to make his U.S. debut in our country's biggest race. A good story, but a tough assignment. Late-kicker reports home a midpack 10th. 8. Journalism (3-1) Jockey: Umberto Rispoli Advertisement Trainer: Michael McCarthy Current form: Has won four straight and gets better with every start. Overcame some early trouble to win the Santa Anita Derby after defeating Rodrigez in the five-horse San Felipe. Worth a wager: Top form. Top fig (102). Top pick? The horse to beat will be tough to hold off if he gets clear. We will try. Putting the favorite third. 10 Journalism works out on Friday in preparation for Saturday's 151st Kentucky Derby. Getty Images 9. Burnham Square (12-1) Advertisement Jockey: Brian Hernandez Trainer: Ian Wilkes Current form: Wide, neighborhood fourth behind Sovereignty in the Fountain of Youth. Wide trip didn't prevent him from winning the Blue Grass next out. Worth a wager: Took advantage of a torrid pace at Keeneland. There are better closers. Brian Hernandez won last year's Derby aboard Mystic Dan. Ninth. 10. Grande (20-1) Jockey: John Velazquez Trainer: Todd Pletcher Current form: Took a perfect 2-for-2 record to the Wood Memorial and did well to be second behind Rodriguez to earn a spot in the Derby gate. Worth a wager: John Velazquez was aboard for both W's. Does best running on the lead and sure Johnny V will have him forwardly placed. Question. Would it surprise you to see Mike Repole in the winner's circle? Runs early, fades to be sixth. 10 Grande works out on Friday in preparation for Saturday's 151st Kentucky Derby. AP 11. Flying Mohawk (30-1) Jockey: Joe Ramos Trainer: Whit Beckman Current form: Two-time turf winner tried the synthetics at Turfway and ran second behind Final Gambit in the Jeff Ruby. Worth a wager: No dirt experience. This race, in a field of 20, may not be the best place for a stretch runner to find a lane. Blinkers off. Not last, but 19th. 12. East Avenue (20-1) Jockey: Manny Franco Trainer: Brendan Walsh Current form: Went off the 4-5 favorite in the Risen Star and walked home a disappointing 10th of 12. Was put on the lead in the Blue Grass and got caught in the final jump by Burnham Square. Worth a wager: He's fast but there are horses that are faster and he will be hard-pressed to stay with them. Manny Franco takes him as far as he goes. We think he's gonna be 16th. 10 East Avenue works out on Friday in preparation for Saturday's 151st Kentucky Derby. Getty Images 13. Publisher (20-1) Jockey: Irad Ortiz Trainer: Steve Asmussen Current form: Finished fourth behind Coal Battle in the Rebel, then second behind Sandman in the Arkansas Derby. Worth a wager: Hasn't beaten anybody. No really, he's an 0 for 7 maiden. Tough spot to earn diploma but American Pharoah-sired colt is getting better and Irad Ortiz an intriguing rider change. May be better equipped for the summer classics. For now, a respectable fifth. 14. Tiztasic (20-1) Jockey: Joel Rosario Trainer: Steve Asmussen Current form: Was a half-dozen lengths back of Coal Battle in the Rebel. Rebounded to win the Louisiana Derby at this longer distance. Worth a wager: The deep-closing Tiztastic was fantastic in victory and may build on it. Versatile. He's 2 for 2 on turf. Believe he makes it interesting. Gets up for fourth. 10 Tiztastic works out on Friday in preparation for Saturday's 151st Kentucky Derby. AP 15. Render Judgement (30-1) Jockey: Julien Leparoux Trainer: Kenny McPeek Current form: Runner-up to runaway winner American Promise in the Virginia Derby. Followed that with a non-threatening fifth in the Blue Grass. Worth a wager: Remember Rich Strike riding the rail and upsetting the 2022 edition at odds of 80-1. This would make no sense either. Rendering judgment. Last of 20. 16. Coal Battle (30-1) Jockey: Juan Vargas Trainer: Lonnie Briley Current form: Stretched his winning streak to four in the Rebel then had it snapped by Sandman in the Arkansas Derby. Worth a wager: Only five time winner in the field. The loss in Arkansas was his first on dirt. No real excuses. May have peaked in the Rebel. Placing him eighth. 10 Coal Battle works out earlier in the week in preparation for Saturday's 151st Kentucky Derby. AP 17. Sandman (6-1) Jockey: Jose Ortiz Trainer: Mark Casse Current form: Slow starter fell nearly 13 lengths back before rallying to be a close third to Coal Battle in the Rebel. Lost touch again in the Arkansas Derby but powered down the lane to win it. Worth a wager: If the Tapit gray stays clean down the backside and remains in the same area code as the leaders, the Sandman can put this field to sleep. Winner. 18. Sovereignty (5-1) Jockey: Junior Alvarado Trainer: Bill Mott Current form: The Fountain of Youth winner was second, a length short to Tappan Street in the Florida Derby next out. Worth a wager: Tappan Street (injury) isn't in the Derby and the oddsmakers at Churchill Downs made him Sovereignty the second betting choice behind Journalism. Gets Junior Alvarado back but I'm gonna shop elsewhere at this price. Seventh. 10 Sovereignty works out on Friday in preparation for Saturday's 151st Kentucky Derby. Getty Images 19. Chunk of Gold (30-1) Jockey: Jareth Loveberry Trainer: Ethan West Current form: Has one win from four starts but ran second at 43-1 in the Risen Star then second again to Tiztastic in the Louisiana Derby. Worth a wager: One of many that can make a late run and get a piece at a price. Deep exotics? No, 14th. 20. Owen Almighty (30-1) Jockey: Javier Castellano Trainer: Brian Lynch Current form: The Tampa Bay Derby winner made his way to Keeneland and finished four lengths behind Burnham Square and East Avenue in the Blue Grass. Worth a wager: Flashes speed from the furthest post. Races wide into the clubhouse turn and gives way. 18th. 10 Owen Almighty works out earlier in the week in preparation for Saturday's 151st Kentucky Derby. AP 21. Baeza (12-1) Jockey: Flavien Prat Trainer: John Shirreffs Current Form: Went from a maiden breaker to the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby and ran his eyeballs out. Took a late lead before Journalism ran him down. Worth a wager: Short résumé. Big chance. The #21 loads the gate after Rodriguez scratched. No one riding better than Flavien Prat, and he has a real shot under this lightly raced stalker. Runs big again … for second.
NBC Sports
01-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Kentucky Derby 2025 preview: Admire Daytona
Admire Daytona, trained by Yukihiro Kato and ridden by Christophe Lemaire, is one of two Japanese horses that qualified for the Derby and is the second-best of the two, according to Drew Dinsick.
USA Today
01-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Kentucky Derby field: Horses, post positions and odds for Saturday's race at Churchill Downs
Kentucky Derby field: Horses, post positions and odds for Saturday's race at Churchill Downs Show Caption Hide Caption Kentucky Derby 2025: Baffert's return, and Journalism is the horse to watch Previewing the 151st Kentucky Derby, focusing on Journalism's chances and Bob Baffert's return. One of the quintessential events in American sports will take place this weekend, with the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Over 1 ¼ miles of dirt track, 20 horses will look to etch their names in the history of the sport's marquee race, earning themselves a garland of roses and all the humans associated with them quite a bit of money. Beyond the race itself, there's the pageantry that surrounds it — the performance of 'My Old Kentucky Home,' the call to post being played on an impossibly shiny bugle, the onlookers in lavish suits with pastel-colored ties and comically large hats gripping on to overpriced mint juleps. REQUIRED READING: Your Kentucky Derby pick is likely wrong. Why each horse can, can't win Run for the Roses It's a spectacle with few, if any, peers in American sports, a tense and captivating mad dash that starts and ends in only about two minutes. Before things get rolling Saturday and the horses get into the gate, here's a closer look at the Kentucky Derby field, including what horses will be racing and who has the best odds: Kentucky Derby field 2025 There are 20 horses set to run in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. Here's a look at the field arranged in the order of the post position, along with the jockey riding each horse: Citizen Bull, Martin Garcia Neoequos, Flavien Prat Final Gambit, Luan Machado Rodriguez, Mike Smith American Promise, Nik Juarez Admire Daytona, Christophe Lemaire Luxor Cafe, Joao Moreira Journalism, Umberto Rispoli Burnham Square, Brian Hernandez Jr. Grande, John Velazquez Flying Mohawk, Joe Ramos East Avenue, Manny Franco Publisher, Irad Ortiz Jr. Tiztastic, Joel Rosario Render Judgement, Julien Leparoux Coal Battle, Juan Vargas Sandman, Jose Ortiz Sovereignty, Junior Alvarado Chunk of Gold, Jareth Loveberry Owen Almighty, Javier Castellano REQUIRED READING: Journalism jockey Umberto Rispoli endures whirlwind weekend ahead of Kentucky Derby 2025 Kentucky Derby odds In a phrase that's not often uttered or written in 2025, Journalism is set to make a lot of money. Journalism, whose sire is Curlin — which won the Preakness and finished second at the Kentucky Derby in 2007 — is a sizable betting favorite heading into Saturday's race. The horse most recently won the Santa Anita Derby on April 5. Here's a look at the odds for Saturday's Kentucky Derby, with the horses arranged in the order of their post position: (Odds as of 5:30 p.m. ET Tuesday)
