Japan-based racehorse Epicharis will run in the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of U.S. horse racing’s Triple Crown, the New York Racing Association announced Wednesday. A start in the Belmont Stakes will make Epicharis the first horse eligible for NYRA's $1M bonus offered to any Japan-based winner of N.Y.'s most prestigious race. NYRA announced the $1M bonus, offered to lure the best horses from Japan to run in the 1 1/2 mile race in January. If Epicharis wins, his connections would be awarded $1M in addition to the $800,000 winner's share of the purse. Epicharis won the chance to be in the starting gate for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby by winning Hyacinth Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse in February. Churchill Downs created a “Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby” by making winners of two Japan races eligible for a berth in the 20-slot starting gate.
TIME TO RECOVER: But Epicharis needed time to recover after placing second in the UAE Derby in Dubai in March, said Kiyoshi Hagiwara, the horse’s trainer. "When he arrived in Japan from Dubai, he was a bit tired from traveling and we wanted to give him enough time," Hagiwara said. "Thus we had to pass on Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, though he was awarded [a spot in the] starting gate in Kentucky Derby as the winner of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. Now, he is completely recovered and he is doing well, so we decided to try the Belmont Stakes. He is bred to stay, and, the way he races, I believe 1 1/2 miles at Belmont suits him." Epicharis is scheduled to arrive in N.Y. on June 1 to prepare for the Belmont Stakes, which will be held on June 10.
