CAFE Pharoah, a US-bred son of American Pharoah, is likely to represent Japan in the Kentucky Derby in September.

The colt faced several other ‘Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby’ contenders in the Grade 3 Unicorn Stakes in Tokyo on dirt last Sunday but the impressive-looking colt kicked away in the final furlong and won, pushed out by jockey Damian Lane, by five lengths.

Some value on the form can be given by Full Flat, making his first start since winning the Samba Saudi Derby Cup in Riyadh in February, who finished sixth. He had also finished fifth in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last year at Santa Anita Park.

Cafe Pharoah remains unbeaten after three starts. The colt, trained by Noriyuki Hori and owned by Koichi Nishikawa, entered the Unicorn leading the ‘Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby’ with 30 points and earned another 40 with the victory.

The Japan Dirt Derby on July 8th at Oi Racecourse will also offer 40 points to the winner, but no horse can better Cafe Pharoah’s 70 points.

Second on the list is Dieu Du Vin, a Declaration Of War colt who finished second in the Unicorn. He had won the first race in the series, the Cattleya Sho, in November, earning 10 points, and 16 added for the Unicorn leaves him with 26.

The overall leader at the end of the series receives an automatic invitation to the Kentucky Derby.

Cafe Pharoah is among the original nominees to the Triple Crown, as are Dieu Du Vin and Vacation.

The best performance by a Japanese runner in the Triple Crown series has been Lani’s third in the 2016 Belmont Stakes after off-the-board efforts in the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

Master Fencer finished seventh, placed sixth after Maximum Security’s disqualification last year and went on to finish fifth in the Belmont Stakes.

Cafe Pharoah was bred by Paul Pompa and was sold at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training for $475,000. No definite plans were yet reported on his next start.