First choice Duramente won the Japanese Derby in record time on Sunday to close in on the Japanese triple crown, a feat accomplished by only seven horses in the long history of the sport.

Duramente, ridden by two-time Derby winner Mirco Demuro, added to the Satsuki Sho title he captured last month, clocking 2 minutes, 23.2 seconds over the 2,400 meters. He took one-tenth of a second off the old record held jointly by Deep Impact and his sire, King Kamehameha.

Before a crowd of more than 116,000 on a baking-hot afternoon at Tokyo Racecourse, Duramente went under the wire almost two lengths in front of Satono Rasen. Satono Crown took third another nose behind, and second choice Real Steel came in fourth.