Yoshito Yahagi arrived at Keeneland’s ‘Japanese’ barn as Wednesday morning advanced towards quarter past seven. He walked through the darkness to where the light was brightest, right outside the open box door where Forever Young was being readied for his work.
There might not be too many of these mornings left, not with Forever Young. This is his third Breeders’ Cup assignment, he is five years old, a champion already, a stallion prospect, Saturday could be his last race – but perhaps not.
“Two weeks ago, the owner Mr. Fujita and I had a lot of drinks together and discussed his future plans,” Yahagi said later that morning. “We drank a lot, and discussed for a long, long time. And the conclusion of our discussion was, we were unable to reach any conclusion. So, I cannot rule out any possibilities.”
The Arima Kinen? Another Saudi Cup? Tantalising stuff: the fans can dream.
The master trainer wore a wide-brimmed, light tan cowboy-style hat, of course – we’re in Kentucky, after all – and the special edition purple Forever Young jacket made especially in the Breeders’ Cup purple. Yahagi sets the bar when it comes to the visuals: when Forever Young emerges, he is decked as usual in the red and white Yahagi Stable rug, layered beneath the golden-yellow trackwork saddlecloth denoting his participation in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Red saddle, red and white girths, the classic Yahagi alternate red and white leg wraps, red and white bridle, red reins in the hands of Ryusei Sakai, purple jacketed like his boss. And following, his workmate, American Stage with identical tack and livery, his rider Araki-san in the same purple jacket.
But Yahagi isn’t just about the show. His rare record speaks to that: he is a champion at home, a meticulous and ambitious competitor, and Japan’s leader on the world stage, the only one with Breeders’ Cup wins to his name – three of them – and a famous global player given his victorious big money-nabbing escapades in the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Australia and Hong Kong.
Forever Young, though, is the star of the show, and the horse himself knows it. You could see that the previous morning when he flashed his tail passing a slower horse on the track; when he reared up during parade ring schooling; and now, in the quiet pre-dawn, you can see it in even his walk, moving a quarter-beat quicker than the other horses circuiting the dusty warm-up ring. Sakai has to resort to wider turns so as not to keep stepping up behind the sleepier Breeders’ Cup Mile candidate Lugal.
“He always wants to be a king,” Yahagi said later that morning. “He is a little bit egotistical. We tried to contain him a little bit, but no matter whether in Belmont or here in Keeneland, there were always a lot of fans and camera lens facing him, so we couldn’t give him any serious lessons.
“I apologise that we couldn’t teach him very good manners and he is behaving unruly a little bit.”
No need for apologies. Watching the champion develop as a confident five-year-old drawing towards his career’s end is a privilege for any fan of this sport. If he can take that superior aura into his race, it should be some contest against another horse with presence, last year’s Kentucky Derby winner, Sovereignty.
As the Godolphin colt’s rider told Idol Horse the day before: “Sovereignty does know he’s good. He’s always been that way, even before he won the Derby last year, he always knew he was good, before even I realised that.”
Forever Young has twice been denied a clash with Sovereignty due to the latter meeting unfortunate setbacks: a fever before this race last year, a foot abscess before last month’s G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont.
“I have been looking forward to facing him for a long time, and I think if we really want to be a champion in America, we have to beat him,” Yahagi said.
And that raised the notion of a victory for Forever Young seeing him voted to the Eclipse Award as North America’s Horse of the Year.
“If we can win the American Horse of the Year, I think we can possibly also win the Japan Horse of the Year at the same time,” Yahagi said with a dry, humorous smile. “If that happens, I am happy to conclude my training career immediately.”
First things first, though, Forever Young must become only the second horse to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic in consecutive years, and the only horse to achieve that was the mighty Tiznow 25 years ago. There are preparations to continue.
Forever Young led American Stage towards the training track as the eastern horizon was aglow with a vibrant red sunrise. A couple of circuits at a canter and walk, then on to the main track, the champ ponied to keep him relaxed.
American Stage led out from the five-eights and the pair quickened their pace from the half-mile. Forever Young was soon right there upsides his lead horse and the duo breezed down the straight, Sakai taking a hold as the star turn moved fluidly and finished on top.
“I think his condition is perfect. The rider followed my instructions, and the horse was moving well,” Yahagi said.
The trainer was not satisfied after the Jockey Club Gold Cup win last time, recognising that his horse was not at his peak.
“He definitely has improved,” he said. “We would be in trouble if he stayed in that condition, and during the one month in Belmont and since he arrived here, he has always been getting better and better.”
There’s perhaps too much of a tendency to humanise horses, to impose characteristics upon these animals, but there’s no question that the great Japanese champion has some kind of awareness that he is indeed special.
That self-confidence is part of his toughness, his ability to lift when the chips are down, like that victorious night in Saudi when he and Hong Kong’s old champion Romantic Warrior served up one of this century’s epic races.
His two Saudi Cups and a Breeders’s Cup Classic, his record of 12 wins from 16, never out of the first three including that unlucky hairs-breadth third in the Kentucky Derby, mark him as one of the sport’s greats. He’s a worthy morning line favourite, even against Sovereignty, this year’s Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo, the Preakness winner Napoleon Solo and his Dubai World Cup conqueror Magnitude.
“I don’t think this year’s field is particularly tougher than last year,” Yahagi said. “However, it is not easy to win two in a row. Last year we were the challenger, but this year we have to defend our crown as the champion. I think this is the difficult part.”
But the real difficult part might be deciding conclusively what to do next over more drinks. Perhaps a stiff Kentucky Bourbon will do it. ∎
