Kentucky Derby Horse Profile: Derma Sotogake
Apr 03, 2023
Hiroyuki
Osanuma’s Derma Sotogake earned 100 points on the
2023 Road to the Kentucky
challenge series following his 5 1/2-length romp in the $1.25 million UAE Derby
(G2)
at Meydan on March 25.
Piloted
by Christophe Lemaire, Derma Sotogake led in wire-to-wire fashion and finished
off about 1 3/16 miles on the fast dirt surface in a snappy 1:55.81.
“He can break a little slowly so it was
important he began well to use his gate on the rail and he did just that. He
traveled nicely on the lead and he relaxed for me down the back stretch,” Lemaire
said.
“He was still moving smoothly for me as
we came into the home stretch and once I pressed the button he was very
impressive and I could enjoy the finish on him”.
By the
multiple Grade 1-winning US dirt sprinter Mind Your Biscuits, Derma Sotogake was
bred in Japan by Shadai Farm and purchased for 19.8 million yen (about $163,000)
at the 2021 JRHA Yearling and Foal Sale.
The
colt is the first black-type victor produced from the stakes-winning Neo
Universe mare Amour Poesie, who bagged the 2013 Kanto Oaks. She is a
half-sister to Grade 3 winner Million Disk.
Derma
Sotogake was unplaced in a pair of turf runs to start his career, but he showed
improvement when transferring to the dirt for conditioner Hidetaka Otonashi.
The colt checked in third in his dirt bow prior to reeling off a trio of
tallies to conclude his juvenile campaign, the latter two victories coming in
the stakes ranks.One of those was the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun, the second race in the Japanese Road to the 2023 Kentucky Derby series.
He
commenced his sophomore season with a solid third-place finish in the lucrative
Saudi Derby (G3). His lifetime line after the UAE Derby read 8-4-0-2,
$1,162,164
Otonashi
fully intends on sending the impressive chestnut stateside for the Run for the
Roses, stating, “He will go
straight to Kentucky from Dubai”.
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