Lovcen can join the exalted ranks of Japanese Triple Crown winners with a victory in the Oct. 25 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1T) at Kyoto Racecourse.
Eight horses have swept the series, most recently Contrail in 2020. That sire has three of the 18 entries in this year's edition.
Lovcen is not one of those, but the son of World Premiere has aced every test leading up to the third leg of the series. He now needs to confirm he can handle a big jump in distance to 3,000 meters (about 1 7/8 miles), a furlong short of 2 miles. Pedigree argues that he can as his sire won the race in 2019.
Lovcen, out of the Giant's Causeway mare Songwriting, started his career in November with a victory in a 2,000-meter (about 1 1/4-mile) newcomer race on the Kyoto turf. He turned right around to win the Hopeful Stakes (G1T) at Nakayama Racecourse Dec. 27 at the same distance.
The colt suffered his only defeat in his 3-year-old debut Feb. 15, finishing third in the Kyodo News Hai (G3T) at Tokyo Racecourse. At 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles), that's the shortest distance he's assayed but it proved enough of a prep for him to go on to win the 2,000-meter Satsuki Sho (Japanese Two Thousand Guineas, G1T) in April and the 2,400-meter (about 1 1/2-mile) Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1T) in May, setting up the Triple Crown bid.
He returned from a four-month break to win the 2,400-meter Kobe Shimbun Hai (G2T) Sept. 21.
There is a buzz about a potential Triple Crown sweep and Lovcen's jockey Kohei Matsuyama feels it.
"It's not easy to be a Triple Crown winner and, of course, I feel pressure with so many people wanting the horse to win as well," Matsuyama said after Lovcen drew gate 7.
"He's improved for his training and has done things seriously," he added. "With his workload, he seems to have reached another level. Looking at his last race, 3,000 meters this time shouldn't be a worry."
While none of Lovcen's rivals have a record rivaling his, there are some prospects.
Danon History, a half brother to Danon Beluga, exits a dominating win at 2,600 meters (about 1 5/8 miles) in August at Sapporo Racecourse. While he steps way up in class, he is trained by Noriyuki Hori, and Christophe Lemaire, who has won the race for the past three years, takes the reins.
Justin Chicago has moved up the class ladder through the season and looks for his third straight win. In his last outing, the Suave Richard colt captured the Asahi Hai St. Lite Kinen (G2T), a qualifying prep for the Kikuka Sho named for the first Japanese Triple Crown winner.
Majorelle Bleu moves into graded stakes company for the first time, but the Contrail colt has won three straight races and trainer Yasuo Tomomichi says he's going in the right direction.
Going to Sky, another by Contrail, finished fourth in the Tokyo Yushun and was sixth in the St. Lite.
"We won't know about the 3,000 meters until we try," trainer Yuki Uehara said of Going to Sky. "But the race jockey thinks he has a chance, so I'll take him at his word."
As well he might. The "race jockey" of whom he spoke of is none other than the legendary Yutaka Take, who has won the Kikuka Sho five times. Take scored his first Japan Racing Association grade 1 win in the 1988 edition aboard Super Creek.
