After finishing second on his three-year-old debut in January, Lord Kanaloa contested a race over 1200 metres at Kokura Racecourse on 16 April 2011 and won by three and a half lengths from fifteen opponents.

After the summer break he returned to Kyoto to win the Kyoraku Stakes on 6 November and was then moved up to Grade 3 class for the weight-for-age Keihan Cup over the same course and distance twenty days later.

[8] Lord Kanaloa was campaigned exclusively over 1200m in 2012, beginning with a win in the Grade 3 Silk Road Stakes at Kyoto in January by two and a half lengths at odds of 2/5.

In the Grade 2 Centaur Stakes at Hanshin Racecourse in September he started favourite but was beaten a head by the three-year-old filly Epice Arome.

[10] Starting at odds of 17/5, Lord Kanaloa raced behind the leaders before making progress in the final quarter mile, taking the lead inside the last 100m and winning by three-quarters of a length from Curren Chan in a course record time of 1:06.7.

The local runners included Lucky Nine, Flying Blue and Joy And Fun while the international challenge was augmented by Curren Chan and the Manikato Stakes winner Sea Siren from Australia.

Lord Kanaloa was always among the leaders before taking the lead in the straight and drawing away to win by two and a half lengths from the locally trained gelding Cerise Cherry.

[20] Lord Kanaloa's connections then moved the horse up in distance to 1600m (one mile) for the first time to contest the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo Racecourse.

On 29 September, Lord Kanaloa met Hakusan Moon at level weights in the Sprinters' Stakes and started the 30/100 favourite in a field which also included Majin Prosper and Grand Prix Boss.

He started the 11/8 favourite against the leading local sprinters Lucky Nine, Sterling City and Frederick Engels, with a strong European challenge headed by Sole Power and the Nunthorpe Stakes winner Jwala.

[26] Following his win in the 2013 Hong Kong Sprint the Racing Post rated Lord Kanaloa the joint-third best racehorse of the year, behind Treve and Wise Dan, and level with Black Caviar and Toronado.