American racing has long since learned to give considerable respect to runners from Japan. The first United States grade 1 winner trained there was Cesario in the American Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) as far back as 2005. Since then, there have been notable triumphs by the likes of Loves Only You in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T) and Marche Lorraine in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), both in 2021. Then, in 2025, Forever Young made history, earning an Eclipse Award as champion older horse following a victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).
The previous year, Forever Young had come heartbreakingly close to writing his name in the record books as the first Japanese-trained Kentucky Derby (G1) winner. Overcoming a slow start, Forever Young missed by just a pair of noses to Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone , despite being bumped several times by the runner-up.
This year, Japan's quest for a first Kentucky Derby winner will continue through a pair of runners, Danon Bourbon and Wonder Dean. Danon Bourbon qualified for the classic with a 3 1/2-length victory in the Fukuryu Stakes, the final leg of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby series. That was his third win in three starts: he had scored by 10 lengths over 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles) on debut, which came in October of his juvenile season, then had 5 lengths to spare in a 1,900-meter (about 1 3/16-mile) allowance event. It is hard to evaluate the standard of Danon Bourbon's opponents in those races, but he has consistently shown the ability to deliver a strong closing kick and, in the Fukuryu Stakes, he produced that off a very solid pace. He has yet to race left-handed, but if it turns up wet on Derby Day, it is worth noting that his most recent victory came on a track labeled "muddy."
Bred in Kentucky by Blue Heaven Farm, Danon Bourbon comes from the first crop of Maxfield , himself a son of the 2007 Kentucky Derby hero Street Sense . Winner of his only two starts at 2, the second of which came in the 2019 Breeders' Futurity (G1), Maxfield won the Matt Winn Stakes (G3) in his 3-year-old debut, but was then absent for seven months before returning to add the Tenacious Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in December. He extended his undefeated sequence to five in the 2021 Mineshaft Stakes (G3), but then suffered his first defeat when third to Idol in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1), his only attempt at a mile and a quarter. A decisive winner of the Alysheba Stakes (G2) and Stephen Foster Stakes (G2), Maxfield then ran second in a pair of grade 1 contests, the Whitney Stakes (G1) and Woodward Stakes (G1), before securing a top-level victory in his final outing, beating Happy Saver by a half-length in the Clark Stakes (G1).
So far, Maxfield has been represented by three black-type winners (Danon Bourbon's Fukuryu Stakes did not qualify as black type): Max Ciao, winner of the 2025 I'm Smokin Stakes at Del Mar; Ivy Girl, who captured the Main Line Stakes and Weber City Miss Stakes in her two most recent starts; and Holly's Holiday, who took the Valley of the Vapors Stakes last time out. In addition, Maxfield is also responsible for the exciting, undefeated colt Englishman, who is likely to start as the favorite for the May 2 Pat Day Mile Stakes (G2) on the Kentucky Derby undercard.
Danon Bourbon's dam, Wild Ridge, a daughter of Tapit , scored her sole victory in a 1-mile maiden special on turf at the Meadowlands. She is the dam of four other winners from five other named foals, the best of which is Clubhouse, a four-time winner and second in the 2023 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes.
The second dam, Wild Gams, was an extremely accomplished sprinter with seven black-type victories to her name, including the 2007 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes (G3), 2006 Cicada Stakes (G3), and 2006 Safely Kept Stakes (G3). She also finished second in the 2006 Prioress Stakes (G1). In addition to Wild Ridge, Wild Gams is also the dam of three stakes winners, including the 2022 Remsen Stakes (G2) scorer Dubyuhnell, and Cazadero, a son of Danon Bourbon's grandsire Street Sense, who was a speedy and precocious juvenile, taking the 2020 Bashford Manor Stakes (G3) at 2 before training on to add Canada's premier sprint, the Nearctic Stakes (G2T), at 4. She is also the second dam of the Japanese grade 2 winner Gastrique. The third dam, Diamonds and Legs (by Quiet American), was also a sprinter, winning the 1998 Laura Gal Stakes at Laurel Park over 6 furlongs at 2.
Under Danon Bourbon's sixth dam, Beck Road, we find a performer who triumphed in a classic under the twin spires. That is the 1992 Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Luv Me Luv Me Not, who was out of Beck Road's granddaughter Reason With Me. The family arrived in the U.S. in 1956 with the importation of Linaria, successful in the 1946 Irish Oaks and champion filly in Ireland at 2 and 3. Linaria is also an ancestor of four other U.S. grade 1 winners, among them 2017 champion 2-year-old colt Good Magic and Ce Ce, successful in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1).
Danon Bourbon is the product of a mating that gives an intriguing pedigree structure. First, he is bred on a version of the Street Sense/Tapit cross that has already produced six stakes winners, including current Kentucky Oaks hopeful Bella Ballerina. What makes this instance particularly interesting, however, is that Maxfield is out of a mare by Bernardini, and Bernardini and Tapit are similarly bred: one by A.P. Indy out of a mare by a son of Fappiano, the other by a son of A.P. Indy out of a mare by a son of Fappiano. What's more, Quiet American is inbred 3x2 to Dr. Fager, and Unbridled is inbred to Rough 'n Tumble and Aspidistra, the sire and dam of Dr. Fager. On top of that, both Velvety, the dam of Maxfield, and Wild Ridge are A.P. Indy/Storm Cat crosses.
Wonder Dean
The second Japanese runner, Wonder Dean, earned his way into the first leg of the Triple Crown by running down longtime leader Six Speed to take the 1 3/16-mile UAE Derby (G2). Prior to that, he had shown modest but progressive form, winning once in four starts in Japan, then prepping for Meydan with a fourth in the Saudi Derby (G3).
Wonder Dean owns a pedigree mostly consisting of far less familiar names than those found in Danon Bourbon's background. He is just the second stakes winner, and first graded scorer, from the 205 foals in the first five crops sired by Dee Majesty. Despite his modest stud record, Dee Majesty, a son of Deep Impact, was an accomplished runner himself, winning four times in 11 starts, including the 2016 Satsuki Sho (Japanese Two Thousand Guineas, G1) and Asahi Hai Saint Lite Kinen (G2), and he also finished third in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1).
Wonder Dean is the first foal of Wonder Siang Praw, a winner of three races in Japan. Wonder Siang Praw's sire, Wonder Acute, has never previously appeared in the pedigree of a black-type-winning or -placed horse. Winner of eight black-type races, three graded, Wonder Acute does bring us back to a better-known horse, as he is by Charismatic, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes (G1) in 1999.
The second dam, Wonder Stow Lily (by 2004 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Bago), won 13 races on Japan's secondary National Association of Racing circuit, and her dam, Wonder Madonna, was only a minor winner. The fourth dam, Aramasa Brave, does, however, have an outstanding pedigree, as she is by the great European runner Dancing Brave out of Ara Hotoku, Japan's champion 3-year-old filly of 1988, and herself out of a sister to Bingo Garoo, champion 2-year-old male in Japan in 1978.
