World Racing Weekly: Forever Young, Shin Emperor & Ramayana

Forever Young Gives Sakai Reason To Smile

Forever Young has long been feted as the horse to beat in Saturday’s G1 Saudi Cup and he gave no reason for anyone to doubt his credentials when he worked around Riyadh’s King Abdulaziz Racecourse Wednesday morning.

Ryusei Sakai, the colt’s ever-present jockey, was in the saddle when the Yoshito Yahagi-trained star stepped onto the sun-bathed dirt surface in company with stablemates American Stage and Shin Emperor.  

Forever Young has been here twice before – his Saudi Derby win in 2024 and last year’s epic Saudi Cup triumph – and he looked at home and in fine health as he walked a full circuit and more with American Stage before setting off at a canter, the champ giving the sprinter a start.

But the Breeders’ Cup Classic hero made up that ground easily, breezing down the home straight, finished upside American Stage and put a thin smile of satisfaction on Sakai’s often impassive features.

“We did similar work before the Breeders’ Cup,” Sakai said later. “Fortunately, Forever Young is able to work with the same horse in the same way as the Breeders’ Cup work. I worked Forever Young in the same way as we did here last year, he started three horse lengths behind, and got to American Stage at the third corner. Everything went as planned.

“I think he should be able to go into the Saudi Cup in the same condition as last year,” he added.

With this display coming on the back of his last fast work in Japan before he boarded the plane, Forever Young appears to be in excellent form.

“He always moves fantastically, and he is the best in the world, so I’m not surprised that he put in a piece of work like that,” Sakai said. “I don’t care too much about the time; just let the horse move smoothly.”

In last year’s Saudi Cup, Sakai took Forever Young across from the outside to race one-off the rail, in among the pace-setters. Romantic Warrior swept past just as he was taking the lead at the top of the stretch, and then Forever Young rallied and reeled in the Hong Kong champion to win by a head.

“I haven’t thought about the tactics,” he said, with the barrier draw still to be done later that day. “I don’t pay too much attention to the opponents.” 

American Stage will line up in Sunday’s Riyadh Dirt Sprint, while another big-race contender, Shin Emperor, did his work on the dirt a day earlier and is on track to attempt a repeat win in the newly-upgraded G1 Neom Turf Cup. Two of the three horses – Forever Young and Shin Emperor – are owned by big-spending owner Susumu Fujita of Cygames fame.

“It was the same routine as last year, working on dirt on Tuesday,” Sakai said of Shin Emperor. “Last year he got a great result, so I just worked him in the same way and his work was good.

Meanwhile, Keiji Yoshimura was trackside to watch his mare Vermicelles prepare for the G2 Red Sea Turf Handicap. The trainer has had lucrative offshore success before with Obamburumai winning the Golden Eagle in November 2023. That victory in Sydney, Australia fulfilled a long-held ambition he aims to build upon.

“Before Obamburumai, I was already longing for overseas racing,” Yoshimura told Idol Horse. I was attending international sales like Tattersalls and Keeneland back when I was still an assistant trainer, so it has always been in my mind to send my horses overseas when I get the chance.”

Vermicelles – a four-time winner in lesser grade – has posted some smart efforts in Japan, including third in the G2 Kyoto Daishoten over 2400m in October, but was then found wanting when eighth behind Regaleira in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup, a race Yoshimura won with Queens Ring in 2016.  

“We just want her to get a graded stakes win,” the trainer said. “She hasn’t performed well in the Group 1 level, but she has been placed in the graded stakes, in handicaps and over longer distances. She is very suited to long distances, so we were determined to come here as long as she could get an invitation.”

The six-year-old, whose sire is the enigmatic grey Gold Ship, will carry 57kg in the 3000m contest.

“The weight shouldn’t be a problem,” Yoshimura said. “It’s almost the same as she has been carrying in races in Japan, and in this race, she has some opponents carrying more weight than her.”

This Week In Horse Racing History

Seabiscuit made his eagerly-awaited return to action on February 9, 1940. The West Coast star, the 1938 Horse of the Year, had been sidelined for a year with a suspensory injury but lined up at Santa Anita in the La Jolla Handicap in which he placed third. Seabiscuit was back in the winner’s circle third-up after his victory in the San Antonio Handicap, and capped his career with a famous triumph in the Santa Anita Handicap that April, followed by retirement.

Hall of Fame jockey Johnny Longden passed away on February 14, 2003 at age 96. The Yorkshire-born Canadian was the only person to win the Kentucky Derby as a jockey and as a trainer. He rode the Triple Crown winner Count Fleet to victory at Churchill Downs in 1943 and in 1969 he trained Majestic Prince to victory.

The first recorded modern horse race meeting occurred at Chester’s famous Roodee in England on February 9, 1539. The date was Shrove Tuesday and the racing is said to have replaced the traditional but violent Shrove Tuesday football.

Idol Horse Reads Of The Week

Adam Pengilly relates the engaging tale of the late Bede Murray’s Melbourne Cup heartbreak and the unfolding fairytale of his son Paul Murray’s latest stable star.

Adam Pengilly

From Melbourne Cup Heartbreak To A $1250 Fairytale: The Murrays’ Next Miracle Horse

Shane Dye’s must-read column this week has the former jockey and respected Hong Kong racing expert outline why he’s impressed with trainer Brett Crawford’s first season, but warns of the trap many new trainers fall into.

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Brett Crawford Is Impressing Everybody – But Can He Avoid The New-Trainer Trap?

It’s a year since Forever Young rallied to overhaul Romantic Warrior in the G1 Saudi Cup, in what might well have been the race of the century thus far, so with Riyadh the focus again this week, it’s a good time to revisit David Morgan’s report from the track on that amazing night.

David Morgan

Yahagi Lauds Forever Young After Epic Saudi Cup Triumph Over Romantic Warrior

Racing Photo Of The Week

Date
11 February, 2026

Photographer
@Harchiha

Location
Shinhidaka

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Global Blackbook

Mirco Demuro looked to have a high class prospect in his hands when he guided the well-bred Ramayana to victory in an allowance race at Santa Anita last Friday. The Richard Mandella-trained three-year-old has taken a bit of time to get things together and this was her fifth start: she was second in each of her first three starts before breaking her maiden at start four.

Ramayana raced at the tail, made progress on the far turn, challenged the front rank at the top of the stretch and went about her task smartly, quickening, battling, then drawing half a length ahead of Wild Like The West with her ears pricked. The Listed-placed runner-up provided a solid benchmark.

Ramayana is by the champion two-year-old Uncle Mo out of Miss Temple City, winner of the G1 Makers Mark Mile, G1 Shadwell Turf Mile and G1 Matriarch Stakes.

World Horse Racing Calendar: What’s Coming Up

Lightning Stakes
Flemington, Australian, February 14

Australia’s first Group 1 race of 2026 promises much with the G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Tentyris looking to enhance his credentials. The Godolphin-owned three-year-old will take this 1000m dash en route to the Newmarket Handicap and there might even be a Royal Ascot target on the horizon. Godolphin also has the Chris Waller-trained Beiwacht, winner of the G1 Golden Rose and engaged in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint at the end of March. Giga Kick is likely to be in the mix and is on a hat-trick after winning his last two, notably the G1 Champions Sprint last time, while Asfoora, Europe’s champion sprinter last year, is another in the line-up.

Saudi Cup Day
King Abduaziz, Saudi Arabia, February 14

November’s Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Forever Young will attempt to win the world’s richest race for the second year in a row when he lines up for the G1 Saudi Cup before a probable tilt at becoming the first horse to add a Dubai World Cup to the Saudi Cup. The colt’s owner Susumu Fujita and trainer Yoshito Yahagi will also send Shin Emperor in an attempt to win the newly-upgraded G1 Neom Turf Cup over 2100m for the second year in a row. Japan’s Panja Tower is one to look out for in the G2 1351 Turf Sprint, with jockey Joao Moreira heading to Riyadh after winning the inaugural US$1 million Abu Dhabi Gold Cup last weekend.

Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup
Sha Tin, Hong Kong, February 22

Expectations are at their peak that Ka Ying Rising will secure his 18th straight victory and surpass the great Silent Witness as the horse with the longest winning streak in Hong Kong history. And after his easy G1 Centenary Sprint Cup win last time he will be very short odds again to win this 1400m contest for a second time. The likes of Helios Express and the former champion Lucky Sweynesse ensure the race’s quality around Ka Ying Rising, but it will be a massive shock if Davd Hayes’ superstar is beaten.

Verry Elleegant Chipping Norton Stakes
Randwick, Australia, February 28

Mares have a great record in the mile contest in recent times with Via Sistina last year, Verry Elleegant herself and the great Winx all on the scoresheet. This time the unbeaten four-year-old filly Autumn Glow is a prime contender. The Golden Eagle winner is due to contest the 1400m Apollo Stakes this Saturday. She could be joined in the field by another talented filly from her stable, last year’s Australian Derby heroine Aeliana. 

Australian Guineas
Flemington, Australia, February 28

Sheza Alibi, the early Australian Guineas favourite after her G2 Sandown Guineas win, now looks set to bypass the Flemington Group 1 after co-trainer Peter Moody confirmed a change of direction for her autumn. The Saxon Warrior filly will instead resume in the G2 Armanasco Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield next Saturday, with the G1 Randwick Guineas (March 7) the new target. With Sheza Alibi unlikely to take her place on February 28, Observer has firmed to the top of early betting following the VRC Derby winner’s successful return in the G2 Autumn Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

Dubai Super Saturday
Meydan, UAE, February 28

Laurel River is a possible contender in the G2 Al Maktoum Classic on Super Saturday, which would be his first race since he was a shock second in the G3 Firebreak Stakes in January last year. That was his first race since he won the G1 Dubai World Cup in March 2024 and the Bhupat Seemar-trained seven-year-old will need this race if he’s to be in prime order for the Dubai World Cup this time around. He seems set to face his stablemate Imperial Emperor in both races: last year’s Al Maktoum Classic hero is Seemar’s flagbearer so far this term though, and won the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge at Meydan last time. ∎

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