A successful Triple Crown campaign from the Japanese trained Lani; which saw him finish third in the Belmont stakes behind Destin and Creator, appears to have sparked some interest in getting even more Japanese based horses to make the trip for the legendary race series.

Churchill Downs along with the Japanese Racing Association have established a Japan road to the Kentucky Derby. Horses in Japan can qualify for the Kentucky Derby in two races, the Cattleya Sho for 2 year olds and Hyacinth Stakes, both are run at a mile on dirt. Epicharis who is a grandson of Kentucky Derby and Preakness stakes hero Sunday Silence, secured the top Japanese Derby spot when he scored in the Hyacinth. Following the colts victory owners U Carrot farm and trainer Kiyoshi Hagiwara said there is a possibility that Epicharis will be shipped to Meydan for the UAE Derby on March 25th. Should that transpire, and Epicharis brings his part in Dubai, the colt could very well find himself in the starting gate of the 2017 Kentucky Derby.

Other Kentucky Derby hopefuls from Japan include in the likes of Mont Saint Legame (second in points) and Adirato (third in points). Should Epicharis for whatever reason not participate in the Kentucky Derby then Mont Saint Legame will get the opportunity, so on and so forth. If all three horses do not take their chance then no Japanese horse will qualify for the Kentucky Derby through this method for 2017, but Churchill officials have been in contact with JRA to ensure that all concerned with these horses fully understand the possibilities of this venture.

The underlining factor to the success of the Japan road to the Kentucky Derby, may very well be the $1 million dollar bonus from the New York Racing Association to any Japan based horse to win the Belmont Stakes, which would mean that the connections of that particular animal would take home a cool $2.5 million dollars altogether. This is without a doubt going to bring even more attention to the Kentucky Derby if not the entire Triple Crown series, and give it a boost of culture.