It’s not often Funabashi sees a true global superstar grace its white sand circuit. That’s not to say good horses don’t make their way to this industrial corner of Chiba at the northern point of Tokyo Bay, the G1 Dubai World Cup winner Ushba Tesoro contested this very race the last two years, but having Forever Young on track was different.
You could see it at the entrance gates to the venue, one of the second tier NAR (National Association of Racing)’s four Tokyo area tracks. A full half-hour train ride east from Tokyo’s business centre, men in dark suits, brief cases in hand, were not put off by either the falling rain or the Wednesday night timing; they rushed straight from the office to get a rare sighting of the best dirt track runner Japan has ever seen. By 8:05pm, off-time for the Jpn2 Nippon TV Hai over 1800 metres, the crowd had swelled, Funabashi was packed.
Here was a horse that had made his name internationally with a stunning, albeit luckless run, to be beaten a nose and a nose in the G1 Kentucky Derby of all races; who achieved what many Japanese fans felt was unachievable in beating the world’s top-rated turf horse at the time, Romantic Warrior, in an epic G1 Saudi Cup; a horse that had raced only five times previously in his homeland.
The paddock-side commentator was practically reverential with his words: “It is a rare experience to witness one of the best horses in the world race here in Japan, and we should cherish this moment and enjoy his race.”
Masato Nishizono summed it up more succinctly when the trainer of rival runner Marble Rock said, “It’s remarkable that he runs here.”
They weren’t wrong. Forever Young had only been sighted twice on a Japanese race track since his G3 Saudi Derby win in February 2024. The last time was across town at Oi in December, a victory in the G1 Tokyo Daishoten, sandwiched between third-place in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar, California and his Saudi Cup win.
Del Mar, and the Breeders’ Cup Classic, is on the flight plan again, and that’s what this was all about, really. Yoshito Yahagi’s charge needed a tune-up in preparation to take on that challenge; he had enjoyed a long rest since his jaded third in the G1 Dubai World Cup in early April, and one month out from the Breeders’ Cup, he needed to show he still had it. Yahagi, it seems, had a very good idea that he did.
“This year, the horse spent the summer at Northern Farm Hayakita, and they sent the horse back to me at Ritto in amazing condition, so it was very easy for me to prepare for this race,” Yahagi said after the contest was over.
A few minutes earlier the crowd had buzzed with anticipation as the pre-race fanfare sounded to accompanying hands clapping. The feeling was more Group 1 than a regular Jpn2 class race.
Yahagi had two in the race and Forever Young’s stablemate Revontulet was fast out of the gate, pressing the early lead before settling second, with his storied stablemate tracking in fourth behind the front rank, his head high, tail rigid, disliking the sharp kickback as Light Warrior took on the lead and extended at a quick clip.
The star of the show, white bridle and red reins, was several lengths off the leader going down the back; behind him the field had stretched and split into what looked like three separate races. Forever Young’s ever-present pilot Ryusei Sakai asked him to move closer, running three wide; heading to the final turn he began to drive, bouncing in rhythm.
Light Warrior dropped away and as they straightened for home the Yahagi pair were at the fore; the crowd roared and Forever Young powered up outside of his determined stablemate, who was ridden by Mirai Iwata.
“I told both Ryusei and Mirai, don’t think about each other, just run your own race,” Yahagi told reporters later. “When I saw Forever Young going past Revontulet that early, I thought, ‘Wow, Ryusei has no mercy!’ But then I realised it was me who told him to run his own race.”
Within a few strides, Forever Young had imposed his superiority, lengthened smoothly and passed the post two and a half lengths clear, his ears pricked. He returned the 1.1 favourite in a time of 1m 52.2s and earned an obscure place in the trivia books as the only horse to have won races in Group 1, 2, 3 and Jpn1, 2 and 3 classes.
Sakai returned a fresh-looking Forever Young to salute the ecstatic crowd in front of the winning post. The rider raised his right hand index finger to the sky, patted his champion, then raised a sharp, right hand fist, elbow bent, and another pat for the horse.
“Go get them in the States!” was the cry from the jubilant fans.
Forever Young returned to unsaddle looking alert, his energy levels high. His bay frame, now in the autumn of its fourth year, is visibly stronger than when last he was seen.
Yahagi, dark suit, red tie and blue, fading to grey brimmed hat, smiled as Sakai unsaddled. Close by was owner Susumu Fujita’s family, as well as Katsumi Yoshida, the Northern Farm supremo and a rare visitor to the NAR theatre of competition.
“We haven’t decided when we are going to ship him, but of course he will run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic,” Yahagi said.
“This year the opponents are really strong, and I feel like the world’s best racehorse will be decided in this race, so I really want to prepare him as well as I can. Although there will be tough opponents, this horse is tough as well. I think it was a really nice prep race for him today, and I will prepare him to be better in the coming days.
“The horse has become much bigger, gaining more muscle. I think he has become stronger yet again, otherwise he won’t stand a chance against the opponents he will face in the Classic. As you could see in the paddock, he just looks so amazing. I was impressed as well.”
He knows he will have to have the horse at his absolute peak in California. Last year, after the son of Real Steel ran third at Del Mar, Yahagi stood with his back to the wall, head bowed for many minutes as he spoke solemnly to reporters.
He said then that he felt he had Forever Young as good as he could get him, so defeat was disappointing, but, he added, he would be back: “I want revenge on the horses that were first and second.”
Sakai confirmed that ‘revenge’ has long been the aim: “I think everyone can now look forward to his race in the US,” he said. “Our goal has always been winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic.”
The rider admitted to a sense of relief at having won a race he knew they could not lose if the Breeders’ Cup plan was to be maintained.
“For a horse coming back from a long layoff, I can’t ask him to do much better,” Sakai said. “To go to the US, he needed to have a good result and performance here, and he did. He hasn’t experienced the kickback for quite a while, so I wanted him to experience that and held him back a little bit. He was a little bit reluctant, but I was patient with him. I wanted him to take the lead before entering the final stretch, and he executed well.”
The only blip on Forever Young’s 12-race, nine-win record – and that really is nitpicking – is his third-place finish last time in the G1 Dubai World Cup, when a victory was expected by many, but Yahagi has seen no ill effects from that difficult contest, in which the horse never really travelled yet being the champion he is, still made the frame.
“It was a tough race in Dubai, but he is just a super horse; it didn’t impact him at all afterwards. He panicked on that day, but since then he has rested and recovered well,” Yahagi said. “So far everything has been going unbelievably well, and I hope it can stay this way in the coming month, which will be crucial.”
As the fans departed Funabashi, buoyant at having seen one of Japan’s all-time greats fulfil their expectations, Yahagi was ready to unwind.
“I will go back and have some beer now,” he said, “because I am even more happy about Revontulet running second!” ∎
