Seventh favorite Epoca d'Oro earned his first Grade 1 victory after winning the 78th running of the Satsuki-sho on Sunday at Nakayama Racecourse to take the first leg in the Japanese triple crown.

Jockey Keita Tosaki steered the Hideaki Fujiwara-trained Epoca d'Oro behind the leading pack before coming from behind in the final dash to win the race in 2 minutes, 0.8 seconds at the Chiba Prefecture track.

Sans Rival was runner-up, two lengths behind Tosaki's ride. Eighth pick Generale Uno was in the leading pack along with two others early in the race but settled for third.

(Epoca d'Oro [7] steals the show in Sunday's Satsuki-sho, the first race in the Japanese triple crown.)

It was Tosaki's seventh G1 victory and his first time winning the Satsuki-sho. Epoca d'Oro's next start will be the Japanese Derby, the prized jewel in the triple crown on May 27 at Tokyo Racecourse.

"I'm really glad. (Epoca d'Oro) raced very calmly, he's a great racehorse," Tosaki said. "I figured that some of the horses would try to take an early lead, so I was planning to take position behind the leaders. The race went exactly like I planned."

Fan-favorite Wagnerian finished seventh.

(Jockey Keita Tosaki and Epoca d'Oro will next head to the May 27 Japanese Derby.)