Japan Road: Tamamo Freesia takes on colts in Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun

Dec 15, 2025 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Forever Young captured the 2023 Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun (Photo by Katsumi Saito)

The Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby event that launched Forever Young onto the world stage, the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun, will be held for the 76th time at Kawasaki on Wednesday.

The Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun – “All Japan Two-Year-Old Championship” – offers points on the 20-10-6-4-2 scale to the top five finishers. None of the competitors in the first scoring race on the Japan Road, the Nov. 29 Cattleya S. at Tokyo, wheeled back here, so the leaderboard will be reshuffled on Wednesday.

Forever Young romped in the 2023 edition before going on to win the 2024 Saudi Derby (G3) and UAE Derby (G2) and finish third in the Kentucky Derby (G1) photo. Taking his game to an even higher level in 2025, Forever Young captured the world’s richest race, the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1), and recently made history as the first Japanese horse to take the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).

Long before Forever Young came along, the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun occasionally highlighted future stars. Its honor roll includes such international campaigners as Agnes World (1997), Agnes Digital (1999), Utopia (2002), and, more recently, Derma Sotogake (2022), who competed in the Kentucky Derby and placed second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2023.

Three contenders bring unbeaten records into Wednesday’s renewal – Godolphin’s homebred Pyromancer; the stakes-winning filly Tamamo Freesia; and Best Green, 4-for-4 on the lesser National Association of Racing Circuit.

Pyromancer has won both of his starts, going about 1 1/8 miles at Kyoto. His pedigree is redolent of the Kentucky Derby trail. His sire, Pyro, turned the Risen Star (G3)/Louisiana Derby (G2) double at Fair Grounds in 2008 and finished eighth to champion Big Brown in the Run for the Roses. Pyromancer is out of a mare by 2007 Kentucky Derby runner-up Hard Spun.

Tamamo Freesia is by Le Vent Se Leve, the 2017 Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun winner who went on to become Japan’s champion dirt horse at three. She sports a resume very similar to Forever Young at the same stage of his career.

Like Forever Young, Tamamo Freesia impressed in a mid-October newcomers’ race at Kyoto, going about 1 1/8 miles. She likewise made her stakes debut next time out in the JBC Nisai Yushun at Mombetsu and rallied to victory.

But unlike Forever Young, Tamamo Freesia prevailed by a narrow margin in the JBC Nisai Yushun. She scored by just a neck over fellow filly Fleur d’Or, with the colt Ayasan Jotaro another half-length back in third. The three renew their rivalry on Wednesday.

【#JBC2歳優駿 結果】
1着 4タマモフリージア
2着 5フルールドール
3着 2アヤサンジョウタロ

第6回JBC2歳優駿(JpnIII)は田口貫太騎手騎乗のタマモフリージアが制しました。 pic.twitter.com/UJZQLTzztR

— 地方競馬全国協会(NAR)公式 (@nar_keiba) November 3, 2025

Fillies have beaten the boys in the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun five times in the past 20 years, including Myriad Love last December. That stat could also embolden Fleur d’Or, who will be ridden by Forever Young’s jockey, Ryusei Sakai.

Fleur d’Or has a turf-oriented pedigree as a daughter of Epiphaneia, from the deep family of champions Shonan Pandora and Soccer Boy, as well as Group 1-winning globetrotter Stay Gold. Fourth in her debut on turf, Fleur d’Or switched to dirt at Kyoto and promptly broke her maiden.

JBC third-placer Ayasan Jotaro is by Thunder Snow, who famously bucked his way out of contention early in the 2017 Kentucky Derby. But Thunder Snow deserves to be remembered for his otherwise stellar career, and he’s still the only two-time Dubai World Cup (G1) winner.

Ayasan Jotaro’s close finish last time is a bigger pointer to the chances of his highly-regarded stablemate, Best Green. In both of their meetings, Ayasan Jotaro has been soundly beaten by Best Green.

Trainer Junji Tanaka has said that Best Green reminds him of his 2013 Zen-Nippon winner, Happy Sprint. By the prolific dirt campaigner Smart Falcon, Best Green romped in his April 17 debut at Mombetsu in track record time for about 5 1/2 furlongs. He won his next two at the same venue, including the Breeders’ Gold Junior Cup.

Best Green could have advanced to the JBC race, but because the Zen-Nippon was his main aim, Tanaka preferred to take another path. He reasoned that Best Green would benefit from having the experience of shipping to Kawasaki, so he prepped instead in an Oct. 15 race over this track and 1600-meter trip (a “metric mile”).

Passing his Kawasaki test with flying colors, Best Green made a sweeping move from off the pace and won handily by four lengths. He’ll face stiffer opposition from the Japan Racing Association (JRA) horses here, but the form through stablemate Ayasan Jotaro implies that he can stack up with them.

昨日の鎌倉記念(川崎1600m)がスゴすぎた

出走8頭中7頭がデビュー無敗馬。唯一の門別所属・ベストグリーンが馬なりのまま先頭に並びかけると、そのまま4馬身差の快勝… pic.twitter.com/144Fkx8262

— 競馬インフォメーションクラブ(個人で運営) (@keiba_info_club) October 15, 2025

Five of the nine entrants hail from the elite JRA circuit. Aside from Pyromancer and the fillies Tamamo Freesia and Fleur d’Or, Life of Raccoon and Idaten Shacho are JRA horses.

Life of Raccoon is by Four Wheel Drive, American Pharoah’s son, who won the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2). Although Life of Raccoon broke his maiden on the dirt at Fukushima, he comes off an eighth in a Tokyo allowance behind Satono Voyage, the next-out winner of the Cattleya S. on the Japan Road.

Idaten Shacho is by Goldencents, the sire of 2024 Kentucky Derby upsetter Mystik Dan. Trained by the trailblazing Japanese horseman Hideyuki Mori, Idaten Shacho won a sprint maiden at Hanshin but was only seventh in a Kyoto allowance last out.

While Best Green and Ayasan Jotaro are the prominent NAR representatives, two other entrants belong to that second-tier circuit. Kawasaki-based Cosmo Gigantea has never been out of the top two on dirt.

Balcanicus, unplaced twice since winning on debut at his home base of Urawa, arguably has the most questions to answer. Not on the original list for the Zen-Nippon, he was added when the final declarations were released.