Australian jockey Damian Lane steered Tastiera to victory Sunday in the 90th running of the Tokyo Yushun, also known as the Japanese Derby, for the three-year-old colt's first win in a Grade 1 race.
Tastiera covered the 2,400 meters on turf at Tokyo Racecourse in 2 minutes, 25.2 seconds, beating race favorite Sol Oriens by a neck at the wire and earning the 300 million yen ($2.1 million) winner's prize.
Rank outsider Pax Ottomanica ran in front for all but the final 200 meters, opening up a huge lead in the backstretch before being overtaken by the field with 100 meters to go.
Lane, currently racing on a short-term license from the Japan Racing Association, positioned Tasteira perfectly to edge out a crowd of contenders in a mass sprint to the wire.
The top four finishers were separated by the narrowest of margins with Hearts Concerto third by a nose, and Bellagio Opera a nose further back.
