Kentucky Derby International Scouting Report: Wonder Dean

The fifth straight Japanese-trained winner of the UAE Derby (G2), and sixth overall, Wonder Dean will try to score an historic breakthrough in the Kentucky Derby (G1) that has eluded his compatriots so far.

Wonder Dean followed the same Saudi Derby (G3) to Dubai route that nearly worked for Forever Young, a near-miss third in the epic 2024 Run for the Roses. In 2023, Derma Sotogake likewise competed in both races before finishing sixth at Churchill Downs. 

But neither of those furnishes a real parallel with Wonder Dean. He doesn’t have the superstar swagger of Forever Young, who was operating at an historic level in Japan even before he took to the world stage. 

Wonder Dean didn’t have a juvenile campaign equivalent to Derma Sotogake, who captured the marquee dirt race for two-year-olds, the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun, before his Mideast swing. Unlike Forever Young, who turned the Saudi/UAE Derby double, Derma Sotogake was third in Saudi before dominating in Dubai.

This season, Wonder Dean echoes Derma Sotogake in that he made a similar improvement from a fourth in Saudi to triumph in the UAE Derby. But the manner of Wonder Dean’s Dubai victory offers a more reliable pointer to his Derby prospects than “Derma’s” wire job did.

Hence Wonder Dean arguably arrives with stronger claims than Derma Sotogake. Although Wonder Dean didn’t contest juvenile stakes at home, he was runner-up to a couple of high-profile performers in the division. Those solid efforts presaged his development at three, when a longer distance has brought out the best in him. 

The main question is whether Wonder Dean can build up to another peak, after his heroics to top the Euro/Mideast Road. And is he in principle the best Japanese dirt three-year-old – or is it Japan Road invitee Danon Bourbon? Might it even be a Triple Crown nominee who stayed home?

On the plus side, Wonder Dean’s human connections have done well here before. He picks up Forever Young’s jockey, Ryusei Sakai, and trainer Daisuke Takayanagi sent out T O Password to a respectable fifth-place finish in the 2024 Derby. 

Sunday Silence/Charismatic cross

Wonder Dean is the first graded stakes winner by the Deep Impact stallion Dee Majesty. He’s also the first to make any sort of mark for his broodmare sire, the venerable $9.6 million-earner Wonder Acute, a three-time runner-up in the Japan Cup Dirt (G1) (2011-13). 

As the “Wonder” prefix implies, the homebred hails from lines cultivated by Yoshinari Yamamoto’s family. Wonder Acute and older half-brother Wonder Speed, both homebreds for Nobuyuki Yamamato, were hard-knocking veterans whose talent and longevity made them money-spinners. Wonder Dean could very well carry on that legacy.

At the same time, Wonder Dean’s pedigree isn’t just a cause for sentimentality. He represents a combination of Japanese, European, and U.S. classic influences.

Sire Dee Majesty won the first jewel of Japan’s Triple Crown on turf, the 2016 Satsuki Sho (G1), and placed third in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) (G1). By Sunday Silence’s greatest son, Deep Impact, Dee Majesty is out of a Brian’s Time mare from the family of European celebrities Generous and Trillion. 

Sunday Silence isn’t the only Kentucky Derby and Preakness (G1) champion to factor prominently in Wonder Dean’s bloodlines. Broodmare sire Wonder Acute is by Charismatic, the 1999 Derby and Preakness star, himself a son of 1990 Preakness victor Summer Squall (A.P. Indy’s half-brother). Wonder Acute is out of a mare by the remarkably versatile Pleasant Tap (a son of 1981 Derby/Preakness hero Pleasant Colony). 

Although Wonder Dean’s immediate female line is light on black-type, the bottom half of his pedigree is bolstered by stallions of the highest racing class – Bago, Pilsudski, and all-time great Dancing Brave. 

Trainer and jockey on a mission

Takayanagi, 48, learned his craft as an assistant for about 14 years before becoming a trainer in his own right. In 2017, he spent time at Churchill Downs as part of his study of U.S. racing, part of his long-term preparation to achieve his Derby goal. 

Only six years after sending out his first starter, Takayanagi made it to the Derby with T O Password, who qualified via the Japan Road. He faced a tall task in attempting the Run for the Roses in just his third career start, but the 48-1 shot ran a mighty race to finish fifth. 

At home, Takayanagi has won majors on both dirt and turf. His first stable star was T O Keynes, Japan’s champion dirt horse of 2021. Ten Happy Rose became his first Grade 1 winner on turf when pulling a monumental upset in the 2024 Victoria Mile (G1), a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In.” She outperformed her 58-1 odds when fourth in that fall’s Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) at Del Mar. 

Takayanagi’s older brother, Mizuki, is a classic-winning trainer himself, and Daisuke joined the club last year. He celebrated his first classic success in the Satsuki Sho with Museum Mile, who clinched the three-year-old male title by beating elders in the prestigious Arima Kinen (G1) in December. Another highlight of Takayanagi’s 2025 season was the emergence of exciting sprinter T O Elvis, who will contest the Churchill Downs (G1) on Derby Day. 

Jockey Sakai will reunite with T O Elvis on the undercard before guiding Wonder Dean for the first time in the Derby. Although known worldwide for his stellar partnership with Forever Young, the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) and two-time Saudi Cup (G1) winner, he has won more than 50 graded races already at the age of 28. 

Sakai has scooped the past three editions of the Champions Cup (formerly the Japan Cup Dirt) with two-time champion Lemon Pop and current titleholder W Heart Bond, shocked the 2022 Godolphin Mile (G2) aboard Bathrat Leon, and lifted Stunning Rose in that year’s Shuka Sho (G1), the final jewel in the Fillies’ Triple Crown. 

Promising efforts at two

Wonder Dean raced exclusively over 1800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles) as a juvenile, suggesting that stamina was his forte. He debuted in a newcomers’ race in July on the Hakodate turf, which was apparently an educational outing. The 63-1 longshot ran very greenly, and veered out from the crop, but still closed from last for an encouraging fourth. Note that the winner’s time was a juvenile course record for the distance in 1:48.1.

Next seen on the dirt at Nakayama, Wonder Dean was much more clued in as the 4.60-1 second choice. He secured better early position to stalk the pace, launched his bid turning for home, and easily skipped away by eight lengths.

Wonder Dean settled for second in his two remaining starts as a juvenile. But he was bumping into an above-average rival on both occasions.

In a historically informative Kyoto allowance, won in the past by eventual UAE Derby winners Crown Pride (2021) and Derma Sotogake (2022), Wonder Dean dropped further off the pace and had to work his way into the clear in the stretch. Godolphin’s favored Pyromancer got the crucial jump on him and held on by a half-length. The form was boosted when Pyromancer came back to win the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun on the Japan Road.

Wonder Dean reverted to handier tactics with new rider Florent Geroux in the Dec. 20 Poinsettia S. at Hanshin. Settled just off the pace, he quickened to challenge front-running Rock Ptarmigan, who found more to hold him at bay. But Wonder Dean posted the fastest final 600 meters (about three furlongs) in :35.9, with the last furlong uphill. 

Rock Ptarmigan was planning to target the UAE Derby himself, until the outbreak of hostilities in the region prompted connections to pursue domestic options. He has since won the Keihin Hai, a stepping stone to Japan’s Dirt Triple Crown, in even more authoritative fashion.

Saudi prep to Dubai breakthrough

Wonder Dean’s venture to the Saudi Derby not only gave him an introduction to Group-level international competition. The race conditions were a brand new experience to him as well. All of his prior starts came in routes on right-handed tracks. Now he was cutting back to a metric mile for the first time, going around one turn, left-handed. 

In the circumstances of a race that was bound to be too short for him, Wonder Dean reported home a better-than-appears fourth. Jockey Oisin Murphy steered him to the extreme outside down the backstretch, presumably to avoid kickback. 

Eventual winner Al Haram saved a lot more ground as he commenced his rally from the rear. For some way in upper stretch, Wonder Dean and Al Haram were moving in tandem. But inside the final furlong, Al Haram delivered the knockout punch and swept past the leaders, while Wonder Dean made no further impression.

Third-placer Satono Voyage, the beaten favorite, gives collateral form that compliments Japan Road invitee Danon Bourbon. Both defeated the reliable yardstick of the series, Don Erectus, who was runner-up in three Japan Road events. Satono Voyage held off Don Erectus in the opening leg of the series, last November’s Cattleya S. Danon Bourbon dismissed Don Erectus more emphatically in the finale, the Fukuryu S.

But it’s hazardous to lean too heavily on that comparison because of the different distances involved. Moreover, Wonder Dean was much better suited to the UAE Derby. The step up to about 1 3/16 miles played to his strengths, especially when pacesetter Six Speed turned it into an unforgiving test. 

Six Speed’s relentless gallop took almost everyone else out of their comfort zones. Wonder Dean, under a very heady ride by Cristian Demuro, improved his position on the backstretch to stay within striking range. He had the gears to go after Six Speed when he tried to give them the slip rounding the far turn, and the superior stamina to outlast him. 

“I was truly impressed by his performance,” Takayanagi told the Dubai Racing Club. “I was confident beforehand, as I thought the extra distance would definitely help, and that Meydan would suit him.

“I was expecting the leader, Six Speed, to stop a lot earlier than he did, and so I was a bit worried, but I always thought he would get there.”

The sectionals illustrate that the UAE Derby was a war of attrition. Wonder Dean’s final 400 meters (about a quarter-mile) elapsed in :27.06 as he pulled 2 1/2 lengths clear of the tiring Six Speed. 

The only one gaining late was Wonder Dean’s familiar foe Pyromancer, who did not enjoy the best passage (and wound up wearing two hoods, thanks to a mix-up with the equipment declaration). Even his belated rally, in :27.44, left him another six lengths behind Six Speed. 

Wonder Dean’s Derby chances

With his experience in navigating different types of trips, with different jockeys, in big fields, around different tracks, in three countries, Wonder Dean has the foundation and seasoning to cope with the unique demands of the Kentucky Derby. He proved his stamina in the UAE Derby, but as his finishing speeds at home attest, he’s no plodder. 

If a pace meltdown would increase his win chances, he’s not beholden to it to run well. Wonder Dean has the tactical ability for Sakai to place him in a sensible spot, depending upon how the race unfolds.

But the caveat is that Wonder Dean would need a hardy constitution to withstand the rigors of his Mideast preps and continue his progress in Louisville. The Saudi Derby was a perfect tune-up, but Dubai was a tougher slog. Although the five-week gap helps, Forever Young is the only UAE Derby alumnus, from any country, who carried his form forward in the Kentucky Derby.

It’s also worth keeping a counterfactual in mind for the UAE Derby. Due to the wartime conditions, two prime contenders did not make the trip. Saudi Derby winner Al Haram was grounded by a canceled flight, and the aforementioned Rock Ptarmigan remained in Japan. Each can claim a win over Wonder Dean. Would he have turned the tables on both, just as he gained revenge on Pyromancer in Dubai? Maybe so, given the race shape at the distance, but we’d know for certain if they had been on the scene.