Cafe Pharoah earned himself a trip to the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby (G1) with a commanding victory in the June 21 Unicorn S. (G3) at Tokyo Racecourse.

A 10-length winner in his Dec. 14 going 1800 meters at Nakayama, Cafe Pharoah subsequently earned 30 points on the Japanese Road to the Kentucky Derby with a victory in the Listed Hyacinth S. on Feb. 23. After Sunday’s score, he now has 70 points and sits atop the point standings in Japan. 

Cafe Pharoah, a son of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, was consigned and sold by Eddie Woods at the 2019 OBS March 2-year-old sale, going to Narvick Int'l. for $475,000.

Despite breaking from the outside post in the 16-horse field of 3-year-olds, Cafe Pharoah was only about two lengths from the lead after a quarter mile. Getting a very confident ride, the bay colt moved to challenge for the lead in upper stretch, then with a shake of the reins, sped away from the field to win by five lengths.

“I had a good start, but I had a fast horse inside and used my mount to get [into] second,” jockey Damian Lane told Yahoo Japan. “Still, after I got second, the pace was slow. I was worried about the reaction when I first used my mount, but I was relaxed even when I entered the straight and [he] responded 300 meters out.” 

Cafe Pharoah races for Koichi Nishikawa. He was bred in Kentucky by Paul Pompa. His dam Mary's Follies was a multiple graded stakes winner and is the dam of Transylvania S. (G3) winner Night Prowler and black type winner Regal Glory.