Satsuki Sho: Lovcen Zooms to Victory in Record Time

Race favorite Lovcen won the 86th Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas), the first leg of the Triple Crown, in a race- and course record-setting time on Sunday, April 19 at Nakayama Racecourse.

In Funbashi, Chiba Prefecture, the World Premiere progeny completed the 2,000-meter race in 1 minute, 56.5 seconds, shortening the previous course record by 0.1 seconds.

Lovcen won his debut start at Kyoto (2,000 meters) in November 2025 and triumphed in the Hopeful Stakes (G1, 2,000 meters) as a 2-year-old. In his first start of 2026, the dark bay colt was third, a head and neck behind winner Realize Sirius, in the Kyodo News Hai (G3, 1,800 meters) on February 15.

On Sunday, trainer Haruki Sugiyama scored his eighth Japan Racing Association G1 victory. Sugiyama also won a pair of Classics in 2020 — the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) and the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) with Daring Tact.

Jockey Kohei Matsuyama registered his 10th JRA G1 win. He was victorious in the Oka Sho with Star Anise a week earlier. It was his second Satsuki Sho title, having piloted Al Ain to a victory in 2017.

Matsuyama became the seventh jockey to win the Oka Sho and the Satsuki Sho in the same year.

A Strong Finish for Lovcen

After a smooth break, Lovcen was sent to the front before the first turn. He maintained his lead down the backstretch with fourth favorite and two-time graded winner Realize Sirius (Akihide Tsumura), who immediately glided up to stalk the pace after breaking from a wide stall, closely sitting a half-length behind in second.

As the field tightened up at the last corner, the two frontrunners entered the lane head-to-head and briefly dueled up to the 200-meter marker.

From that point, Lovcen found another gear to climb the grueling hill with good speed and gradually pulled away. Lovcen held off the persistent Poetic Flare colt for a 3/4-length victory. (Watch the race on the JRA's YouTube Channel.)

"We had a good draw and we knew that when it comes to Nakayama's turf and with the experience from last year, we'd have a better chance if we ran near the front," Matsuyama said. "To be honest, I wasn't thinking of setting the pace but the colt broke really well and we went with the flow."

The winning jockey added, "[Lovcen] showed amazing speed and to break the record also proves how much stamina he has — he's such a strong and versatile colt."

The 86th Running of the Satsuki Sho

Coming off a second-place finish in the Yayoi Sho Deep Impact Kinen (G2, 2,000 meters) on March 8, ninth favorite Reichsadler (Daisuke Sasaki) sat around 10th and shifted out, securing a clear path for his stretch run rounding the final corner. The Siskin colt launched a late drive — the fourth-fastest time over the last three furlongs — and closed in on the frontrunners stride by stride.

But Reichsadler failed to threaten the top two finishers while pinning the tenacious Ask Edinburgh (Yasunari Iwata) right before the wire to secure third place by a neck margin.

Forte Angelo (Kiwamu Ogino) placed fifth among the 18 participants.