Japan could have another Triple Crown winner on Sunday but why is the hype machine running with the brakes on? David Morgan’s World Racing Weekly takes a look at the build-up, plus an exciting Japanese Blackbooker.
Lovcen will attempt to become Japan’s ninth Triple Crown winner in the G1 Kikuka Sho at Kyoto on Sunday; victory would put him alongside some of the all-time greats, like his grandsire, Deep Impact. Yet the build-up feels decidedly low-key.
Of course, there’s the typically emotive Japan Racing Association (JRA) promo video, and the fans are certainly keen to see how it all plays out, judging by the demand for the lottery to get a seat in what will be a packed grandstand. But even the JRA video is hedging, showing a mixture of Triple Crown winners with those that foiled Triple Crowns. Talk about cautious marketing.
This is unusual given that Japan is one of only two – maybe three – elite level racing countries where horsemen and fans still value the Triple Crown as a meaningful and achievable feat, the other being the United States, which endured a 37-year blank before American Pharoah in 2015 and then Justify showed it could still be done.
The British still talk about the original Triple Crown and there is a sense of longing for it to happen again, even though the last time was Nijinsky in 1970. But the approach to it seems to be wistful nostalgia, wrapped in unbelief, that it is really just a fanciful, outdated myth, like believing the legend that King Arthur will return one day and save all England. Camelot was the last horse to try and even he failed.
But Lovcen’s attempt at a feat so close to Japanese racing fans’ hearts makes the muted lead-up fascinating to outside observers. Perhaps it’s the lack of a rivalry narrative among this year’s classic colts; maybe a bit of wavering faith that Lovcen could actually be the real deal; doubt, perhaps, rooted in an idea that this year’s classic crop isn’t anything special; a ‘let’s wait and see if he can do it’ mindset before going all in on superhero status.
It’s interesting to note that he is one of only two horses out of the Derby last May that has since won a race, the other being Reichsadler who won a minor contest before being put in his place when fifth against older horses in the G2 Mainichi Okan.
Whatever it is, the vibe shouldn’t detract from what Lovcen has done, or what an impressive athlete he is, all 1,150 pounds of his dark bay frame. He was unbeaten at two, winning the G1 Hopeful Stakes. But there was no hype then either: he was second-favorite for his debut against a horse that is still a maiden after eight runs, and he was the 19.8 seventh pick in the market for the Hopeful.
After a first-up third to start his classic campaign, he has not put a foot wrong, winning the first two classics, and he was on the mark again first-up after a summer break, winning the G2 Kobe Shimbun Hai.
But since his debut win by three lengths, Lovcen hasn’t won a race by more than three-quarters of a length. He won the Derby by a head and his last race by a nose, and maybe it is those small margins that have reduced the hype. But he wins, and that’s what Lovcen has been about so far. He’s proven he’s a talented and tough rival to any challenger.
LOVCEN, KOHEI MATSUYAMA & PEINTRE NAIF, CHRITOPHE LEMAIRE / G1 Tokyo Yushun // Tokyo /// 2026 //// Photo by Shuhei Okada
But then, maybe there’s a hint of complacency to it all as well: he’s odds-on, he’s beaten most already, and while past Triple Crown contenders had the worrisome unknown of whether they’d stay the Kikuka Sho’s 3000m distance, the expectation is Lovcen will relish it. The colt’s sire World Premiere won the Kikuka Sho seven years ago and went on to win the Tenno Sho Spring over 3200m.
One interesting narrative surrounds trainer Haruki Sugiyama and jockey Kohei Matsuyama. They teamed to win the fillies’ Triple Crown with Daring Tact back in the Covid year of 2020. No trainer and jockey have ever combined to win both the Triple Crown and the fillies’ equivalent.
Sugiyama said of Lovcen’s recent lead-up win: “It was a slow pace and he dropped back for a while, but when the jockey switched him to the outside, he showed a good turn of foot, and I think it just showed how confident the jockey is with him.”
Lovcen was a relatively inexpensive foal at ¥21 million, a promising blue collar type from the Northern Farm Mixed Sale. Perhaps that makes him the ‘salary man’ among Triple Crown hopefuls. Interesting then that the horse emerging as a rival is the up-and-coming Danon History, a blue-blooded ¥429 million Select Sale graduate.
If he is the classic-winning ‘salary man’, then why not go all in on that angle? Go all in on something and market it for all it’s worth.
Despite the atmosphere and expectation simmering, rather than boiling into this Triple Crown attempt, you can be sure that if Lovcen does get his nose first past the post, the fans will ensure he gets all the hero worship he deserves forever more. And the best bit, because he is trained in Japan, we’ll most probably get to see him race again next year.
This Week In Horse Racing History
October 28, 1922 was the day Moonee Valley staged the first running of the Cox Plate, named for the Moonee Valley Racing Club’s founder William Cox. The seven-year-old Violoncello won the race.
Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Maryland opened for the first time on October 25, 1870. A horse called Preakness won the Dinner Party Stakes. Three years later, the race name was changed to the Preakness, which would become the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown.
Australia’s ‘race of the century’ between Bonecrusher and Our Waverley Star was on October 25, 1986. The rivals clashed that day in the Cox Plate and it was an epic contest between the two New Zealand champions as they went for home early and battled all the way to the line, with Bonecrusher passing Our Waverley Star, then being headed himself before fighting back to win by a neck.
Global Blackbook
Sehzade looks like an exciting prospect after his impressive debut win in a 1400m newcomers race at Kyoto, Japan on Sunday. The market had suggested confidence as the two-year-old shortened into 2.2 favoritism and that was borne out with a three-length win.
The colt is trained by Kenji Nonaka who last week enjoyed a major win with Silver Ratio in the Jpn1 Japan Dirt Classic at Oi, and looks like he too has the talent to rise into stakes company.
Jockey Mirai Iwata settled Sehzade just behind the front rank, made a move between horses on the final turn, balanced his mount early in the straight and from the 200m mark, the colt quickened smartly for an easy win, ears pricked.
The son of Silver State is from the same family as Japan’s 2009 champion sprinter Laurel Guerreiro, winner of the G1 Sprinters Stakes and G1Takamatsunomiya Kinen, who placed fourth in the 2010 G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen.
What’s Coming Up?
Cox Plate Day
Flemington, Australia, October 24
This year’s running of the G1 Cox Plate, Australia’s top weight-for-age 10-furlong contest, is being held at Flemington while Moonee Valley is reconfigured and rebuilt. It has attracted a top-class field of 12 including the talented mare Aeliana and Sir Delius, third and fourth in the G1 Turnbull Stakes last time. Also prominent is the G1 Underwood Stakes winner Birdman, as are last week’s G1 Caulfield Cup second Saint George, and fourth Cosmic Crusader. Shock G1 Might And Power Stakes winner Land Legend is also in the mix. Meanwhile, it’s 13 years since a three-year-old won the Cox Plate, but seeking to change that stat is the G1 Caulfield Guineas winner Warwoven who is seeking four wins on the bounce and will stretch beyond a mile for the first time.
This article first appeared in Idol Horse as "Lovcen attempts to win Japan's Triple Crown in Kikuka Sho".
