Unique Derby horses include Japanese champ, world traveler and a gray that’s a favorite

Every year the Kentucky Derby is filled with rags-to-riches stories of success, first-time participants, longtime Derby regulars and everything in between.

The 2022 Kentucky Derby field is no different, and features a plethora of fascinating horses and storylines to follow in the days and hours leading up to the Run for the Roses.

Here are three of the most unique horses — and their backstories — set to take part in this year’s Kentucky Derby.

Crown Pride

Crown Pride is in the Kentucky Derby field thanks to a win by nearly 3 lengths in the UAE Derby in March.

He is only the second Japanese-trained horse, and the first Japanese-bred, to win that event.

Now, Crown Pride becomes the latest horse with ties to Japan to test itself in the Run for the Roses.

The first time a Japanese horse shipped to Louisville to run the Kentucky Derby was in 1995, when Ski Captain finished 14th.

Another Japanese horse shipped to Churchill Downs in 2016, when Lani finished ninth.

But both Ski Captain and Lani were bred in Kentucky.

The first horse that was born in Japan, like Crown Pride, to compete in the Kentucky Derby was Master Fencer, who finished sixth as a long shot in 2019.

No horse with Japanese ties competed in the Kentucky Derby in 2020 or 2021, making Crown Pride just the fourth horse all-time with ties to Japan to compete in the Kentucky Derby.

Despite winning the UAE Derby with Australian jockey Damian Lane, Crown Pride this week will be ridden by Frenchman Christophe Lemaire, who recently launched his own fashion brand and will be making his Kentucky Derby debut.

Crown Pride was drawn in post position No. 7 on Monday afternoon.

Summer Is Tomorrow

Finishing second to Crown Pride in the UAE Derby was Summer Is Tomorrow, a horse that boasts a globe-trotting career prior to his American debut.

Summer Is Tomorrow was foaled at Airdrie Stud in Midway in Central Kentucky, sold in England and conditioned in the United Arab Emirates, where he has made all seven of his career starts.

Additionally, Summer Is Tomorrow is overseen by Bhupat Seemar, a native of India.

Seemar, who will be making his Kentucky Derby debut with Summer Is Tomorrow, became the horse’s trainer after his uncle, Satish Seemar, had his training license suspended.

Bhupat was an assistant to Satish in the Zabeel Stables, which is based in Dubai, UAE.

Another layer of international flavor comes with jockey Mickael Barzalona, a Frenchman who will also be making his Kentucky Derby debut this weekend.

Both Barzalona and Bhupat have prior experience working with race horses in the U.S.

Barzalona won the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar Racetrack in California with Talismanic.

These international connections reflect growing global participation in the Kentucky Derby, and there’s reason to believe Summer Is Tomorrow’s early speed could play a factor in this year’s race, despite his turf-focused pedigree.

Summer Is Tomorrow topped the Monday training session at Churchill Downs by covering 5 furlongs in 1:02.

Summer Is Tomorrow was drawn in post position No. 4.

White Abarrio

White Abarrio will easily stand out in the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field on Saturday as one of only three gray horses in the race (the others are long shots Barber Road and Charge It).

Bred in Florida, White Abarrio won the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park in early April and arrives at Churchill Downs with plenty of expectations: White Abarrio was third on the Road to the Kentucky Derby points qualifying leaderboard.

But not since Giacomo, as a 50-1 long shot in 2005, has a gray horse won the Kentucky Derby.

In total, eight gray horses have won the race: Determine (1954), Decidedly (1962), Spectacular Bid (1979), Gato Del Sol (1982), Winning Colors (1988), Silver Charm (1997), Monarchos (2001) and Giacomo (2005).

What are the chances White Abarrio breaks this recent drought without a gray horse as the Derby winner?

“He’s plenty fit,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said on a video call with media members last week. “He’s a legit horse in his own right. It’s a very competitive Derby and I would say you probably have seven or eight horses that have a legit chance (of winning), and there’s probably another two that have an outside chance.”

This is the second time Joseph brings a horse to the Kentucky Derby.

The other was also a gray horse, as Ny Traffic finished eighth in the 2020 race.

White Abarrio was drawn in post position No. 15.

This story was originally published May 5, 2022 at 7:26 AM.

Cameron Drummond

Lexington Herald-Leader

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Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting and the UK men’s basketball team, horse racing, soccer and other sports in Central Kentucky. Drummond is a second-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter in Austin, Texas. Support my work with a digital subscription