As Churchill Downs' liaison to recruit and assist Japanese horses for the Kentucky Derby (G1), Kate Hunter doesn't mince words about her role and her goal.
"My goal in life is to be some American trainer's worst nightmare," Hunter joked. "So, it's to bring over a Japanese horse that's gonna ruin their Kentucky Derby Day. So I apologize in advance for bringing over the Japanese."
Hunter spoke with the media after this year's Japan-based entrants in the Derby put in their final workouts April 28 at Churchill Downs. Danon Bourbon worked a half-mile in :52 4/5. UAE Derby (G2) winner Wonder Dean went a half-mile in :54 3/5, although Equibase did not record it as an official workout.
Hunter said the connections of both horses were pleased with the moves, which followed walking in their barn and then walking in the 1-mile chute.
"If they're happy, I'm happy," she said.
Next year will be her 10th working for Churchill, which reserves a spot in the 20-horse field for a 3-year-old that runs in the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby points races. That horse is the Kentucky-bred Danon Bourbon. Japan-based Wonder Dean qualified through one of two slots through the Euro/Mideast Road to the Kentucky Derby races.
Hunter, a Nashville, Tenn., native, said she studied Japanese a bit before making it her major at Earlham College in Richmond, Ind. The Quaker-founded school had a Japanese studies program, she said.
On Tuesday morning, Hunter spoke outside the barn wearing a jacket honoring Forever Young, the horse that almost answered the question of what it would mean for a Japanese horse to win the Derby, finishing third by a head in the 2024 Derby. Last year, he won the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).
In prior interviews a day earlier, representatives for both horses didn't offer much of an answer to the often-asked question of what would it mean to win the Kentucky Derby, in this case for Japan. Hunter said she wasn't surprised.
"That is the hardest question you can possibly ask a Japanese person, because it's such a broad question, they will not be able to give you a particularly good answer," she said. "They don't think about things quite that broadly. So, you've kind of, like, blown their mind with that question."
Many of the foundations of Japanese breeding and racing come from Kentucky Derby winners, such as Sunday Silence and Charismatic, who both appear in Wonder Dean's pedigree, and American mares.
"They've really played a heavy role in creating the modern Japanese Thoroughbreds, so I think winning the Kentucky Derby, for at least the Japanese industry people, would be a culmination of decades, maybe half a century, of effort to create the best Thoroughbred possible."
For decades, Hunter said Japanese breeders have come to Keeneland and sales across the globe "to buy the absolutely best mares, and then breed those best mares to their homegrown best Japanese stallions, and then getting something from there. And it's been a winning combination. ... The Japanese have really found that 'breed the best to the best.' And they're not just hoping for the best; they're getting the best."
Based on her experiences the past nine years, Hunter said she recommends that Japanese trainers gate and paddock school their horses at Churchill before the Derby. Japanese horses don't usually have an assistant starter in the gate in Japan.
"Most of these horses, because the Japanese crowds are usually pretty big, they've experienced decent crowds, but I keep trying to explain to them: 'You've never experienced a crowd until you've experienced a Kentucky Derby crowd,' so a Thurby would probably be a great day for a test run, mostly for the people."
Although Hunter's not connected with the Japan horses as a trainer or similar role, she said: "I want to win the Kentucky Derby vicariously through these people. So, any kind of information that I can gather over time and share, I'm absolutely gonna do that."
