Promising prospects take first step on Japan Road in Cattleya Stakes

Nov 24, 2025 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Luxor Cafe, shown clinching the 2025 Japan Road invitation, has a younger half-brother in the Cattleya (Photo by Yuki Shimono/Kentucky Derby)

The Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby begins in Saturday’s Cattleya S. at Tokyo, worth points on the 10-5-3-2-1 scale to the top five finishers.

Past winners of this race include Lani (2015), a popular character stateside who competed in all three jewels of the 2016 Triple Crown; Lemon Pop (2020), a future two-time champion dirt horse in Japan; Continuar (2022), who made it to Churchill Downs for the 2023 Kentucky Derby (G1), only to be scratched; and Natural Rise (2024), who went on to win two-thirds of Japan’s Dirt Triple Crown this season.

Although the final field for the Cattleya will be announced on Thursday, we can take a look at the preliminary entries as a sneak preview.

Two of the prime contenders – Arcadia Cafe and Satono Voyage – are by leading North American stallion Into Mischief, the sire of a record-equaling three Kentucky Derby winners.

Arcadia Cafe is a half-brother to Luxor Cafe, who scored an invitation to this year’s Derby as the Japan Road points leader. Unfortunately, he failed to put his best foot forward at a sloppy Churchill Downs and wound up 12th behind Sovereignty. But Luxor Cafe has recently returned to winning form back home.

Another half-brother, champion Cafe Pharoah, likewise clinched a Japan Road invitation, but he did not venture to travel abroad in 2020. They are all out of the exemplary mare Mary’s Follies, who also produced U.S. champion turf female Regal Glory.

Like his famous “Cafe” half-brothers, Arcadia Cafe is trained by Noriyuki Hori. He just missed by a neck in a June 21 newcomers’ race, but returned to break his maiden handily over this same metric mile trip on Nov. 1.

不良馬場の東京ダート。東京1Rを制したのは圧倒的な支持を受けたアルカディアカフェでした🐴速い流れでレースを引っ張り完全と抜け出す強い競馬✨フェブラリーSを連覇した兄カフェファラオにとこまで近づけるか、これからが楽しみです🏆

おめでとうございます👏

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Satono Voyage is a smashing 2-for-2 on dirt for Hiroyasu Tanaka, who also trained Lemon Pop. His mother, Jolie Olimpica, was a champion in her native Brazil as well as in Canada. By Drosselmeyer, winner of the 2010 Belmont (G1) and 2011 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), Jolie Olimpica excelled on turf.

After placing second in his career debut on turf, Satono Voyage has been a revelation on dirt. He demolished an about six-furlong maiden in track record time for a two-year-old at Niigata, and next time going an extra furlong at Tokyo, he rolled by five lengths.

Kentucky-bred Magna Victor, a $1 million purchase at OBS in March, is arguably the best of the debut maiden winners in the prospective line-up.

From the first crop of multiple Grade 1 star and $2 million-earner Maxfield (himself a son of 2007 Derby champion Street Sense), Magna Victor ran away with a Sept. 6 newcomers’ race at Hanshin. The Mitsumasa Nakauchida pupil was the overwhelming odds-on choice that day, and he figures to be among the favorites here as well.

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Ho O Luxor, by Henny Hughes (sire of Hall of Famer Beholder), graduated in a newcomers’ race at this track and trip. Purnabhadra, a son of Into Mischief’s 2020 Derby champion Authentic, and Wicked Pickett each beat fellow first-time starters going shorter distances over this circuit.

Koichi Shintani, who sent out Crown Pride to finish 13th in the 2022 Kentucky Derby, has a promising filly in Every Possible. Closely related to Myriad Love, who defeated males in last year’s Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun on the Japan Road, Every Possible justified favoritism in a newcomers’ event at Kyoto. The other successful debutante, Hiruno Puglia, scored in a similar race at that same venue.

Show Rebirth, who won a Fukushima newcomers’ race in July, resumed with a runner-up effort in an allowance over this course and distance. Sunday Party broke his maiden here in his second start. Golden Blood took three tries before reaching the winner’s circle at Niigata, but his first two came on turf. Don Erectus, who won a sprint maiden at Nakayama, has since finished fifth in Satono Voyage’s allowance.

This story will be updated after the final declarations are available on Thanksgiving.