2026 News
Japan ace secures historic back-to-back Saudi Cup wins
World’s richest race falls again to the magic of Forever Young
On Saturday, Feb. 14, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Japanese darling Forever Young once again made history on foreign turf. In yet another chilling finish, the 5-year-old Yoshito Yahagi-trained bay, partnered with Ryusei Sakai, captured his second win of the Saudi Cup in a back-to-back conquest of the world’s richest race.
Last year, the final strides of the 1,800-meter competition brought shivers worldwide as the hot-shot young colt battled it out with Hong Kong’s legendary Romantic Warrior and prevailed. After following that with a third place a little over a month later in the Dubai World Cup, he went on to score Japan’s first win of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic in November.
Now 5 years old, and taking on his first race of the year, Forever Young battled down the straight with America’s star Nysos, the second choice in wagering in Japan, and, once again, Forever Young came out on top.
Sporting a winner’s bounty of $10 million (approx. 1.5 billion yen), the Grade 1 Saudi Cup was the ninth race on the Saturday card at King Abdulaziz Racetrack and had a local start time of 8:40 p.m. Those in Japan who stayed up until into the wee hours of the morning of Feb. 15 to watch the race, were well rewarded.
The 1,800-meter dirt event fell to the guts and perseverance of not only the equine athlete but the calm, patience and belief held by his partner Ryusei Sakai.
Breaking swiftly from the No. 5 gate in a field of 13, Forever Young raced prominently, then allowed Tumbarumba and Thundersquall, with the Bob Baffert-trained Nysos between them, to lead, while he filled out the front wave with Banishing.
Sakai, who has ridden all 14 of Forever Young’s races said later, “I had thought that in the position I took up (just behind the frontrunners) I wouldn’t be boxed in but everyone started crowding in on us.”
Turning into the first bend, Banishing crossed Forever Young, but Sakai sat tight on the rail, a decision that was to serve him well. “I had a lot of horse under me and I believed, that if the path would just up open, he’d have enough to carry us through.”
Turning into the straight of the left-handed course, Sakai hugged the rail tightly, which helped him find room to advance once they straightened for home. With Thundersquall no longer blocking, Forever Young was able to step into the lead, which he held narrowly from 2 furlongs out. As Thundersquall faded, Nysos appeared to be the only serious threat. Forever Young dug down deep and with Nysos looking spent from the final 110 meters, Japan’s reigning champion prevailed and crossed the finish line the winner by 1 length.
Forever Young’s finishing time was 1 minute 51.027 seconds over dirt rated “fast.”
The 5-year-old Nysos, ridden by Flavien Prat, finished in second place, with the 6-year-old gelding Tumbarumba finishing in third place under James Doyle 3 3/4 lengths behind Nysos.
Japan’s two other runners in the Saudi Cup – Luxor Cafe and Sunrise Zipangu – finished in fifth and sixth place, respectively.
“I didn’t think he would lose,” said winning jockey Sakai of Forever Young afterward. “So, I believed in him and I rode him with confidence. I figured he wouldn’t like getting in to close to the others, and there was a bit of that but I thought he’d still be OK in the straight.
“When we crossed the finish line, I was reminded of just what a strong horse he is. No matter how he wins, he does it strongly. As for it being a historic back-to-back win, I’m just happy he won without mishap. The time was very slow, but it’s good he met expectations. We have the Dubai World Cup next, which he didn’t win last year, so I’ll do my best with that as the next target.”
Yahagi’s praise was a little less forthcoming. “I felt that he wasn’t yet 100 percent, but I thought he had enough to prevail over the others. I don’t think he ran to his utmost for most of the trip, but once he entered the straight, he did. I think we’ll be able to see improvement for the Dubai World Cup.”
Yahagi also commented on Forever Young’s surprising versatility over varying dirt surfaces. “Since he was young, he raced on the white sand of Mombetsu and Oi, and on the usual NAR deep sand like they have at Kawasaki. Even the very different surface of the JRA dirt tracks wouldn’t bother him.”
The 64-year-old, Tokyo-born Yahagi, has, in the 21 years since opening his barn, now amassed 18 major wins abroad, 11 of them G1s, including the 2023 Saudi Cup win with Panthalassa. Unrivaled for most wins in Saudi Arabia, Yahagi has, in addition to the three Saudi Cup victories, notched five more firsts – with Stay Foolish in the 2022 Red Sea Turf, Bathrat Leon in the 2023 version of the 1351 Turf Sprint, Forever Young in the 2024 Saudi Derby, and with Shin Emperor in the 2025 Neom Turf Cup.
The son of a Oi Racecourse trainer, Yahagi has gone on to win JRA awards six times for both most wins and most prize money won in year.
Owner Susumu Fujita was decidedly most moved by Forever Young’s victory. He even surprised all, including the trainer and jockey, with talk of possibly scoring a Saudi Cup treble. “I also realized how popular he is here (in Saudi Arabia),” the chairman of CyberAgent, Inc. said. “The plan was to retire him by the end of the year, but if we keep him racing for another 2 months, we could retire him in Saudi Arabia. We don’t have plans after Dubai, so we’ll think it over. But, retirement in February of next year is now a possibility.”
Forever Young is by the Deep Impact-sired Real Steel. His dam is Forever Darling, by Congrats. Real Steel was also trained by Yoshito Yahagi and competed in the Middle East, winning his first test, the Grade 1 Dubai Turf at Meydan in 2016, then finishing third in the 2018 version of the same race.
Forever Young has taken his sire’s foreign excursions to a whole other level. His debut, 14 starts ago, was his sole JRA race. Five other races were on local NAR tracks, the remaining eight races have taken place outside of Japan, at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Racecourse, the UAE’s Meydan Racecourse, and at the American venues of Churchill Downs and Del Mar.
His third-place finish in the 2024 Kentucky Derby still holds as the best result yet from 10 other attempts by Japan-based horses.
# # #
Of the other 17 horses racing in five other races on the day’s card, the only horse to finish in the money was the winner of last year’s open-class Cattleya Stakes for 2-year-olds, Satono Voyage. He finished in third place paired with Keita Tosaki in the Saudi Derby, a Grade 3 1,600-meter dirt event. Wonder Dean, who went in to the race with four starts behind him and a best second place in open-class company, finished in fourth place under Oishin Murphy. The 3-year-old, one-win class Keiai Agito under Joao Moreira finished in fifth place. NAR’s Best Green under Ryusei Sakai finished in nineth place. The 3-year-old filly Tokai Ma Cherie, who topped last year’s Hyogo Junior Grand Prix at Sonoda, was ridden by Katsuma Sameshima and crossed the line in 12th place amid the field of 14.
# # #
Next up was the Grade 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint over 1,200 meters. Fourth-place finisher in last year’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint American Stage, ridden by Ryusei Sakai and trained by Yoshito Yahagi, bested in fourth place the four Japanese horses competing. Last year’s third-place finisher Gabby’s Sister returned under Moreira but slipped sixth place this year. Don Amitie (a career best third place in G3 company back home) followed in seventh place under Ryan Moore. Yamanin Cerchi, winner of the Tokyo Hai at Oi Racecourse last October, finished under Mirai Iwata only one off the rear in the 13-strong field.
# # #
The Grade 2 1351 Turf Sprint, run over the distance of the race’s name, saw the 2025 Grade 1 NHK Mile Cup champion Panja Tower and Moreira turn in a fifth-place finish, the best result from the three Japanese competitors. Last year’s third-place finisher in the Grade 2 Hanshin Cup, Fortune Time (under Ryusei Sakai) followed Panja Tower in sixth place and Shin Forever, with two seconds in Grade 3 company, and here partnered with Tosaki, brought up the rear in 13th place.
# # #
The Grade 1 Neom Turf Cup, over 2,100 meters of turf, saw the Yahagi-Sakai combo bring last year’s winner in this race Shin Emperor home in fourth place amid 11 runners. Yamanin Bouclier (runnerup in last year’s Grade 2 St. Lite Kinen) followed in fifth place under Norihiro Yokoyama. Mirai Iwata guided Alohi Alii (winner of the Group 2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano at Deauville last year) home in seventh place.
# # #
And the final event before the day’s headliner was the stamina-demanding Grade 2 Red Sea Turf Handicap over 3,000 meters of turf, with two horses from Japan competing. In a field of 11, the 7-year-old gelding, two-time G2 winner Struve, with Moreira up, finished in eighth place and Vermicelles (a three-win class 6-year-old mare) brought up the rear under Mickael Barzalona.
# # # #
Barzalona tops IJC; Japan’s Tosaki lags in 7th place
Japanese participation in Riyadh this year kicked off on Friday, Feb. 13, with the appearance of Keita Tosaki in the International Jockeys Challenge, an event to spotlight jockeys from around the world. The Riyadh version consisted of four races contest by 14 invitees, seven men and seven women.
The participants included Mickael Barzalona, Irish champion rider Dylan Browne McMonagle, and Mohammed Aldaham, who won the challenge last year.
Also joining were Saffie Osborne and Hollie Doyle from the U.K., Marie Velon from France, the U.S.-based Frenchman Flavien Prat, Australian Angela Jones, American Forest Boyce, German rider Nina Baltromei, and Frida Valle-Skar.
The event’s first race went to Osborne, with the second race secured by Baltromei. Barzalona, winner of both last year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and Japan Cup, captured the third race.
Going in to the final race, 10 riders were still in contention for the top prize, but yet another win scored by Barzalona secured him the overall top place.
Valle-Skar finished second in the overall competition, with Osborne in third place.
Tosaki, who finished a close No. 2 to Christophe Lemaire in last year’s JRA jockey rankings, had little luck in the challenge. His total tally from a score of 4-8-4-5 only brought him enough points to land seventh place in the overall event.
“It’s disappointing not to have won,” said the 45-year-old veteran, “but it was the first appearance in the challenge for many riders, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere.”
For details, please see the official results; Feb 13 , Feb. 14
Visit the following websites for more information:
Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Cup
