“The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” refers to the Kentucky Derby, a 2,000-meter dirt track race for 3-year-old thoroughbreds run at Churchill Downs Racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky. The Kentucky Derby is the first race of the Triple Crown, the second and third being the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, and celebrated its 150th running this year.

Fans come to the racetrack dressed in their finest and sing “My Old Kentucky Home” with mint juleps in hand as the horses and riders enter the racetrack. The winning horse is draped with a garland of red roses that is glorious to behold, and winning the famous race is the dream of every jockey in the U.S.

This year, two horses representing Japan competed — Forever Young and T O Password — posing a fresh challenge to two valiant horses with impeccable credentials.

Forever Young was undefeated in five starts. He became Japan’s 2-year-old dirt champion and conquered two races in the Middle East in 2024 — the Saudi Derby and UAE Derby. Forever Young is managed by trainer Yoshito Yahagi, who has two derby victories in Japan, including with Triple Crown winner Contrail, and eight overseas G1 victories including the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in 2021 via Marche Lorraine and the BC Filly & Mare Turf with Loves Only You. His trademark is a colorful broad-brimmed hat that’s marked him as “the man in the hat” among turfmen around the world.

T O Password made his debut in January and within three months has won two races in Japan, quickly giving people hope that he could be a Kentucky Derby contender. Ridden by Kazushi Kimura, who’s been a leading jockey in Canada for three consecutive years and received three consecutive Sovereign Awards for Outstanding Jockey, the colt appeared ready to make history.

Prior to this year’s Kentucky Derby, just six Japanese horses had run the race, starting in 1995 with Ski Captain, who barely managed to keep up with the field and finished 14th. His rider, Yutaka Take, who later went on to become a legend in Japanese horse racing, told Nikkan Sports afterward: “The pace was too fast. I wanted to push forward at the third turn, but he just couldn’t.”

Horse racing in Japan has mainly scheduled turf races in line with the European norm. Japanese horses have finished second four times in France’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and seem just a step away from winning it all. But a victory in the United States, the home of dirt tracks, had been considered impossible, particularly at the Kentucky Derby, which gathers the top 3-year-olds for the “Run for the Roses.”

In recent years, however, Japanese horses have captured crowns in leading international dirt races. Marche Lorraine won the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in 2021, Panthalassa the Saudi Cup in 2023 and Ushba Tesoro the Dubai World Cup also in 2023. Japanese horse racing is now in an era in which domestic thoroughbreds can compete on a par with the best in the world.

At the Kentucky Derby this year, Forever Young showed in third and T O Password finished strong in fifth. The memorial race was eventually won by homebred Mystik Dan. Forever Young, the first Japanese horse to finish in the money at the Derby, split the pack and down the stretch bumped several times with runner-up Sierra Leone before a three-horse photo finish. Betting also took place in Japan, sending Derby-related terms in Japanese trending on social media platform X. Although Forever Young didn’t win, his strong showing left fans hopeful for future victories.

After the race Yahagi and jockey Ryusei Sakai expressed their frustration at having come so close. The race and the team’s reaction have made observers feel that the Kentucky Derby is no longer a distant object of admiration or a challenge just to enter, but a realistic goal.

The day is approaching when a Japanese horse will finally win the Kentucky Derby. Even in defeat, the 150th memorial race affirmed their undeniable promise.

Download the PDF of this Japanese Derby