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SARGA.CO — Every great racehorse has a signature style, whether it’s taking the lead, stalking the pace before striking late, or unleashing from the back of the field. Then there is Lovcen.

The Double Crown star is rapidly building a reputation as something far rarer: a horse capable of winning from any position. Front-runner, pace chaser, or late surger - Lovcen simply finds a way, with his latest win in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) possibly being the clearest proof yet.

Drawn in gate 13, Lovcen had little chance of repeating the front-running tactics that carried him to victory in the Satsuki Sho six weeks earlier. The wide draw forced jockey Kohei Matsuyama to rethink the plan from aggressively seeking the lead to settling Lovcen in a midfield position while rivals battled for early supremacy.

Even then, things did not unfold perfectly. In the climax, Lovcen briefly found himself without a clear path as runners crowded around him. Yet when Matsuyama finally found an opening, the colt exploded through the gap with an incredible turn of foot. Swinging to the outside, he secured the prestigious Classic by a head in the final furlong.

What makes his performance even more remarkable is how different it was from his victory in the Satsuki Sho. Before it, Matsuyama had expected Lovcen to race like how he won the Hopeful Stakes, by sitting just behind the pace and striking on the homestretch. Lovcen, however, had other ideas.

Shortly after the gates opened, the colt surged forward and unexpectedly seized the lead from Realize Sirius. Rather than fight his mount, Matsuyama adapted on the fly and allowed Lovcen to dictate the race. The result was a record-breaking wire-to-wire victory in the first leg of the Japanese Triple Crown.

Netkeiba reported, in his final piece of trackwork at Ritto Training Center, Lovcen delivered what observers described as one of his sharpest workouts of the season, despite it being stronger than the one before the Satsuki Sho. Even when his workmate went faster than expected, leaving Lovcen several lengths adrift entering the final stretch, he simply switched gears and swept past him.

Trainer Haruki Sugiyama explained the intention behind the workout. "He's remained unchanged in a very good way," the trainer said. "The overall time was about two seconds faster than before the Satsuki Sho, but the horse has continued to improve physically and had a bit of extra condition on him, so we decided to push him slightly more. Honestly, I thought a solo workout would have been fine anyway."

Sugiyama admitted his concerns about possible aftereffects from the Satsuki Sho, but fortunately there were no issues. He praised Lovcen’s strength, saying, “For a three-year-old at this stage, he's a very solid horse, and we were able to put him through a strong piece of work.”