2022 Kentucky Derby Field - Crown Pride
Last Updated: 05/04/2022 at 8:25 PM ET
Crown Pride will leave from the no. 7 gate on Saturday in the Kentucky Derby. The 3-year old will be ridden by Christophe Lemaire and is Kochi Shintani trained. Crown Pride has three wins in four career starts with career earnings of $734,569. The stalker is based out of Japan and over the last 5 years two Japan-based thoroughbreds have finished ninth in 2016 and sixth in 2019, at the Derby.
Crown Pride was the winner at the UAE Derby in Dubai while racing wide through the back stretch while holding a stalking position and was able to overtake leader Summer Is Tomorrow down the home stretch over the final 100 yards. Before that victory, Crown Pride had won two out of three starts back home in Japan but those races were against much less competitive horses than he will see on Saturday.
It is difficult to determine how a foreign-based thoroughbred will fare in the biggest race in North America. No horse that has taken part in the UAE Derby has finished in the Kentucky Derby’s top three. This will be the first Derby for trainer Shintani and jockey Lemaire.
With only a strong finish in UAE Derby and little to no races against Kentucky Derby level competition, Crown Pride, currently 20-1, is not expected to be competitive or amongst the top five horses down the backstretch at Churchill Downs on Saturday.