Yoshito Yahagi’s words came without hesitation. Calmly, he spoke, but swiftly came his reply to the question, and the matter-of-factness of his tone only added weight to the master trainer’s assertion that Forever Young is “absolutely the best” dirt track runner Japan has ever known.
The colt’s exhilarating victory in the G1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz racetrack confirmed it. He had not only bagged the racing world’s richest prize of US$20 million, plus a glittering golden trophy, but had also denied Hong Kong’s great champion Romantic Warrior what would have been a win for the ages.
Fourteen runners broke from the gate in the Saudi Cup but only two mattered. Ryusei Sakai guided last year’s Saudi Derby winner Forever Young forward and across from the wide 14 draw to vie for the lead, one off the inside fence; James McDonald had the turf track specialist Romantic Warrior in a handy spot just behind the front rank for his first attempt at a dirt race.
A line of four headed into the home turn: make that five, as suddenly McDonald angled Romantic Warrior out into the merciless five-wide berth and the incredible gelding took it all in his rolling, devouring stride. Sweeping off the bend into the home straight, with 400m to run, Romantic Warrior was powering ahead of Forever Young with the rest out of contention.
With 300m remaining, it seemed to be all about Hong Kong’s superstar: the 10-time Group 1 winner, the hero of the G1 Cox Plate in Australia, conqueror of the G1 Yasuda Kinen in Japan, Hong Kong’s great gladiator, was about to slam one of the world’s best dirt track runners on an alien surface.
But things can change rapidly in sport: think Bayern Munich’s late loss to Manchester United when they were all but home and hosed in the 1999 Champions League final, or the exuberant Crisp’s famous capitulation to the late-closing Red Rum in the 1973 Grand National.
When Romantic Warrior found the rail approaching the closing 200m mark in the 1800m contest he was more than a length clear and in full-flight, but McDonald checked the big screen to his left not once but twice. Was that a sign of concern?
At the very moment of McDonald’s first look, Sakai angled Forever Young into clear ground and the four-year-old came out with slingshot momentum: Romantic Warrior’s run had peaked, his own momentum was slowing; Forever Young drove on determinedly, passed the Hong Kong champion in the final strides and nailed an epic triumph by a neck.
It was Yahagi’s second win in the race following the trailblazing Panthalassa’s score in 2023 and Sakai’s first.
“I believe in Forever Young, so I never felt I was going to lose this contest,” Sakai said.
It had already been an evening to remember for Japan’s horsemen and fans: Yahagi and Sakai had taken the G2 Neom Turf Cup with Shin Emperor, who will likely head to the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic in April; then Christophe Lemaire guided the Yoichi Kuroiwa-trained Ascoli Piceno to win the G2 1351 Turf Sprint; and Oisin Murphy steered the Tomoyasu Sakaguchi-trained Byzantine Dream to land the G2 Red Sea Turf Handicap.
The UAE 2,000 Guineas winner Golden Vekoma, under a power-packed Connor Beasley in the G3 Saudi Derby, and the John Velazquez-ridden U.S. raider Straight No Chaser in the G2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint prevented a Japanese clean sweep of the main events.
By the time the Saudi Cup 14 were being saddled and sent out into the pre-parade ring, the night’s tension was tightening. Yahagi, purple hat with a yellow badge of his stable’s logo pinned to the left side, beige suit and red and white striped tie, appeared as cool as the unflappable Forever Young. Or perhaps not.
“I was concerned about Romantic Warrior because he had never run on the dirt so I didn’t know how much ability he would show in a dirt race,” Yahagi admitted later. “I looked at the other horses he was against and I knew the level but I couldn’t find that with Romantic Warrior.
“I couldn’t believe how emotional I was about winning this second Saudi Cup, I was surprised I had such emotion in this situation … The time Panthalassa came here I didn’t have any pressure on me, so I really enjoyed that time, but this time, with Forever Young, we had Romantic Warrior to go up against, so this time I had pressure.”
Danny Shum, Romantic Warrior’s trainer, was a smiling figure in dark suit and blue-striped bow tie, but there was a betrayal of anxiety in his movements, matched by the initial spark of nervous energy the red-hooded Romantic Warrior displayed when at last Shum released him from his saddling box after all but one of his rivals had already been circling.
While Yahagi did an interview to camera in the parade ring proper just before the jockeys mounted up, Shum stood with his team a touch uncomfortably as photographers moved towards their space.
The tension was gone a few minutes later, replaced by elation for team Yahagi, and for Shum’s group, a deep disappointment softened just a little by complete pride in their defeated yet undimmed champion.
“He delivers every time and he delivered again tonight,” McDonald said through the hurt of such a loss. “Of course, I’m gutted he got beaten, but he went down on his sword that’s for sure and made one hell of a race out of it.”
Shum will press on to the G1 Dubai Turf, back on Romantic Warrior’s favoured grass, at Meydan on April 5.
“It’s a good run for his first time on the dirt, only beaten by Forever Young who is a top dirt horse, and he was only beaten by a head: it’s a good run,” Shum said.
“We all did our best. Of course, I hope to win every time but racing is racing. As long as he tries his best, I’m always happy. It was a really good race and I think most of the people really enjoyed the race.”
Yahagi will send Forever Young to Dubai, too. Last year the bay did the Saudi Derby/UAE Derby double: this year he will attempt to break new ground by adding the Dubai World Cup to his Saudi Cup win.
“I have ambitions to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but I have to think about the Dubai World Cup too, because there has never been a horse to win both the Saudi Cup and the Dubai World Cup, so I have to challenge that,” Yahagi said.
The 2025 Saudi Cup will fit well in any future list of all-time greatest races and Forever Young’s win was just reward in the world stage for a couple of high-profile losses last year after which 27-year-old Sakai’s readiness to mix it at the elite world level was queried. There was the ‘almost’ Kentucky Derby when Forever Young was an agonisingly close third, and then third again in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Yet, in-between, the bay impressed at home, winning the JPN1 Japan Dirt Classic and the G1 Tokyo Daishoten, both at Oi and both under Sakai. Yahagi has continued to show confidence in his protégé and was rewarded with a ride in Riyadh that displayed astute tactics and strength.
“He’s the stable jockey and we wanted to develop him as a jockey on the world stage: he’s getting there,” Yahagi said.
The trainer has carved a legacy as Japan’s biggest achiever on the world stage and his two wins on the Saudi Cup card enhanced that towering reputation forged chiefly by his handling of the brilliant globe-trotting mares Lys Gracieux and Loves Only You. He also had the domestic champion, the Triple Crown winner, Contrail, yet for all that those stars achieved, Yahagi is clear where his latest Saudi Cup winner stands in the pecking order.
“Forever Young is much the best horse I have had in my career as a trainer,” Yahagi said.
And that says plenty about just how great a champion Romantic Warrior is, too ∎
