Natural Rise toyed with 15 rivals in the Tokyo Derby, second leg of Japan's Dirt Triple Crown, June 11 at Oi Racecourse, leading most of the way to a 2 1/2-length victory.
The easy victory put the Kizuna colt on the cusp of a series sweep. He won the first leg, the Haneda Hai, by five lengths April 29, also at Oi. Both races were run over sloppy tracks.
The final Triple Crown race is the Japan Dirt Classic Oct. 8, also at Oi.
Natural Rise broke well for jockey Takeshi Yokoyama from gate 8 and quickly moved to take the lead during the first run past the grandstand. He opened up a big advantage midway down the backstretch.
Heading for the second turn, the field rather quickly closed the gap and appeared ready to blow by Natural Rise. Having none of that, the colt rebroke, jumped back to a daylight lead and easily held off a mild late bid by Clay King, who finished second.
The top two represent the Japan Racing Association, the dominant national organization. The third- and fourth-place finishers, Seesaw Game and Night of Fire, are based at Oi in the National Association of Racing, run by local governments.
Yokoyama said Natural Rise is "super strong" and that dictated his conduct of the race.
"Coming out of the gate, I thought it is important to respect the rhythm of the horse, and I discussed with the trainer that it wouldn't be a problem even if the horse sprints out to the lead. We took the lead all the way but it was within our strategy," Yokoyama said.
"As Natural Rise was a very heavy favorite, now I feel very relieved to have had the job done," he added.
Natural Rise has not ventured outside Japan but was involved in the 2024-25 Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. After winning his career debut at Sapporo in July, he won the first points race, the Cattleya Stakes, Nov. 23 at Tokyo. He then finished fourth in the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun in December—his only loss to date—and did not persevere in the series.
He returned to win twice at Oi—by six lengths in the Keihin Hai and five lengths in the Haneda Hai—to kick off his 3-year-old campaign before lining up for the Japan Derby.
The colt is well bred for dirt racing. His sire, Kizuna, is by Deep Impact, by Sunday Silence. His dam, Lady Madonna, is a daughter of Distorted Humor with Tale of the Cat and Storm Cat on the bottom of her pedigree. Her dam, Dreamwriter, is a half sister to grade 1 winners J. B.'s Thunder and Carpe Diem , and grade 2 winner Farrell.
Natural Rise was bred by Grand Stud and races for Hiroyuki Yoshioka.
Should the connections have international aspirations, the Japan Dirt Classic not only serves as a tempting target to complete the Triple Crown series sweep but also as a proven prep for global glory. Forever Young won the Classic in 2024—his only start between a third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and a third in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).
A showdown between Forever Young and Natural Rise would not seem out of the question but Natural Rise's trainer, Keizo Ito, wasn't being drawn into any serious discussion of plans.
"We will see how he comes out of the race and have him take some break and fresh-up in Hokkaido," Ito said. "After that, we will start conditioning him to be able to be ready for the next campaign."
