FOREVER YOUNG SALUTES IN 1ST CLASSIC WIN FOR JAPAN

The star 4YO hangs on to score in highlight race of Breeders’ Cup World Championships

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Forever Young has won the US$7 million (S$9.1 million) Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic (2,000m) at Del Mar on Nov 1, holding off defending champion Sierra Leone to give Japan their first success in the showpiece of the US$34 million Breeders’ Cup racing extravaganza.

At the highlight of the two-day Breeders’ Cup World Championships, the son of Real Steel went off at $17 after finishing third in the same race in 2024, and settled into the pack midway before pulling away around the final turn.

The Yoshito Yahagi-trained four-year-old fended off a late challenge from 2024 winner Sierra Leone (Flavien Prat) in the home straight, as the Todd Pletcher-trained favourite Fierceness (John Velazquez) slipped into third place after getting off to an early hot start.

It was a moment of sweet redemption for Forever Young, who also finished third at the 2024 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby (2,000m) where the first runner-up Sierra Leone bumped him down the final straight multiple times in a controversial finish.

“T can’t believe it, he is an amazing horse,” said jockey Ryusei Sakai, who has ridden Forever Young in all his 13 starts.

Yahagi was over the moon and likened the bay colt’s 10th victory, and his first in the US, to winning the Fifa World Cup.