A large number of racehorses are unable to turn potential into results.
Forever Young not only achieved this, but also accumulated victories across four different countries and a series of impressive records.
The combination of elite performances and historic milestones has clearly helped establish him as one of the defining dirt horses of his generation.
Not surprisingly, his name continues to be among the most talked about by experts and highly sought after by bettors in horse racing bookies.
With retirement scheduled for early 2027, the timing is perfect to look back and try to understand the scale of what has already been achieved.
Breakthrough in his debut season
The expectations surrounding Forever Young’s first official race were extremely high due to a number of factors linked to his early performances in training and the promise he had already shown before stepping onto the track. However, those expectations were fully met, as in his very first race in October 2023 in Kyoto, he won comfortably by four lengths.
Over the following two months, two more comfortable victories followed. Next came Monbetsu, over the same 1,800 metres, won by a length and a half. Then Kawasaki, back down to 1,600 metres, won by seven lengths. Three races, three victories, and by the close of the year a JPN Thoroughbred Ranking rating of 113, which no two-year-old competing on dirt had ever been awarded.
Redefining the Saudi Derby record books
In February 2024, the time had come for his first appearance outside Japan. However, Forever Young looked perfectly adapted to the challenge.
In the Saudi Derby, contested over 1,600 metres, he recorded a time of 1:36.17, setting a new race record in the history of the competition. Interestingly, no previous winner had ever come close to the 1:36 mark, with Full Flat, at 1:37.91, being the nearest to it.
Forever Young not only wrote his name into the history of the race, but also gave his owner, Susumu Fujita, his first overseas win with one of his horses.
The first Japanese champion of the Breeders’ Cup Classic
More than four decades passed before the Breeders’ Cup was finally won by a Japanese horse. Even then, it took Forever Young two attempts to achieve yet another historic milestone, having finished third on his first appearance.
In 2025, he not only won one of the most prestigious races in American horse racing, but also took his career prize money beyond 19 million US dollars.
Dominance in the Saudi Cup era
Some achievements have established Forever Young as the greatest horse ever to contest the Saudi Cup. His first victory in the race made Yoshito Yahagi the first trainer to lift the trophy twice, after previously doing so with Panthalassa. The success was worth no less than 10 million US dollars to owner Susumu Fujita.
The following year, Forever Young not only secured Yahagi’s third title, making him the outright leader in the winners’ rankings, but also became the first horse in the history of the competition to finish first twice. In this edition, his owner was once again awarded 10 million US dollars, significantly increasing the prize money accumulated throughout his career.
The win added another chapter to his remarkable career and strengthened his standing among the most accomplished dirt horses of his era.
International recognition and award success
In addition to the titles already mentioned, Forever Young also won races such as the UAE Derby, Japan Dirt Classic and Tokyo Daishoten. Alongside a strong collection of trophies, the horse has never finished a race below third place, something that happened only three times in his career.
These are some of the elements that led the Japanese horse to receive the American Champion Older Dirt Male Horse recognition award in 2025. This award is given to the best older dirt racehorse in the United States, taking into account consistency and performances in top level races.
To give some perspective, the award has existed officially since 1971. However, it was only in the year Forever Young claimed the title that a Japanese horse reached this status, creating yet another record in his career.
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