中山競馬場
Lovely Day began his racing career by winning a maiden race over 1800 metres at Kokura Racecourse on 19 August 2012. Four weeks later at Hanshin Racecourse he followed up in the Nojiku Stakes over the same distance, beating Sammaru Home. In November he was dropped in distance but moved up in class for the Grade II Keio Hai Nisai Stakes over 1400 metres at Tokyo Racecourse and finished second of the sixteen runners behind A Shin Top. On his final appearance of the season the colt contested Japan's most prestigious race for juveniles, the Grade I Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes over 1600 metres at Nakayama Racecourse in December and finished seventh, four and a half lengths behind Logotype.