Yoshito Yahagi

DUBAI, UAE--Ace Japanese trainer Yoshito Yahagi has laid down a pretty frightening gauntlet to his Dubai World Cup rivals by revealing that Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) could have even more improvement up his sleeve following his epic Saudi Cup triumph over Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) last month.  With the Hong Kong superstar being aimed at the Dubai Turf, Forever Young is set to go off odds-on for Saturday's showpiece event. And while the Breeders' Cup was put forward as the ultimate long-term aim for Forever Young, Yahagi...

Forever Young (Jpn) earned a Timeform rating of 131 when winning Saturday's $20-million G1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse, identifying him as the highest-rated dirt horse in the world. Trained by Yoshito Yahagi, the son of Real Steel (Jpn) had shown very smart form as a three-year-old when he won the G2 UAE Derby and the G1 Tokyo Daishoten, as well as finishing placed in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Breeders' Cup Classic. However, Forever Young raised his game another notch and produced a top-class performance by Timeform's...

Stop me if you've heard this one before. Japanese-trained runners dominated the Saudi Cup meeting, landing the big race itself and a clean sweep of the turf races, while peppering results elsewhere on the card with placed finishers.  A little sprinkling of European spice was added to the mix in the French breeding of the G2 Howden Neom Turf Cup winner Shin Emperor (Fr), whose heritage is shared by Christophe Lemaire, rider of the G2 1351 Turf Sprint winner Ascoli Piceno (Jpn) but now just as much a son of...

RIYADH, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA -- The eleventh-hour defection of horses like 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), reigning G1 Dubai World Cup hero Laurel River (Into Mischief) and GI Pegasus World Cup victor White Abarrio (Race Day) deprived the 2025 G1 Saudi Cup of at least some of its pre-race lustre. Remaining in the field of 14, however, were two of the world's top horses, having achieved their success heretofore in diametrically opposite ways. Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) won the G3 Saudi Derby in 2024 in...

RIYADH, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA -- Fourteen horses with Grade I or Group 1 form from America, Argentina, Dubai, Hong Kong, Japan and even Uruguay will take their chance at the winner's share of the $20-million gross purse for the world's richest horse race, Saturday's G1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse. And few of them are without some sort of chance. Susumu Fujita's Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) returns to the Saudi capital 12 months on from a last-lunge success in the G3 Saudi Derby and looks to...

Yoshito Yahagi has nominated Hong Kong star Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) as the biggest danger to his Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) in the $20-million Saudi Cup next Saturday.  The Japanese native is one of the most successful trainers at the Saudi Cup meeting with four wins on the board including a Saudi Cup strike with Panthalassa (Jpn) in 2023, while Forever Young returns as the 2024 Saudi Derby champion.  The four-year-old last year went on to post agonisingly narrow defeats in the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders'...

Ascot, Goodwood and York, three of Britain's largest independent racecourses, announced today the 'British Midsummer Bonus', a new initiative designed to incentivise connections of horses trained outside of Europe to target three of the most prestigious Group 1 races in the British Flat racing calendar. Up to £1 million in bonuses will be available to connections who saddle international runners in both the £1.5 million King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and £1 million Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, which are run days apart from each other,...

Twice a winner at group level on foreign soil and placed in two of America's greatest races in 2024, Susumu Fujita's Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) patched the one hole that existed in an already remarkable career, coming from just off the speed before proving comfortably best in a high-class renewal of the G1 Toyko Daishoten at Ohi Racecourse. In defeating the consistent Wilson Tesoro (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) and fellow 3-year-old Ramjet (Jpn) (Majestic Warrior), the son of US Grade II winner Forever Darling (Congrats) was succeeding for...

Despite never having raced on the dirt in his two seasons at the races, Mrs John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith's champion and 'TDN Rising Star' City of Troy (Justify) was assigned gate three as the 5-2 morning-line selection in a full field of 14 and will be ridden by Ryan Moore in Saturday's $7-million GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar. Deemed by trainer Aidan O'Brien--a two-time runner-up in the Classic (Giant's Causeway, Declaration of War)--'the best he's ever trained,' the son of G1SW Together Forever (Ire)...

Making his first start in his home country since last December and racing for the first time since finishing a tough-luck third to Mystik Dan (Goldencents) and his family relation 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) in the GI Kentucky Derby, Susumu Fujita's Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) cemented his status as one of the favorites for the Nov. 2 GI Breeders' Cup Classic with a tough victory in the $817,292 Listed Japan Dirt Classic at Ohi Racecourse Wednesday evening. Sent off the $1.70 (7-10) favorite despite the...

At €65,000, St Mark's Basilica (Fr) was the most expensive horse to retire to stud in 2022, with a racetrack performance and pedigree that justified the fee. After all, he was the world-champion three-year-old, European champion two-year-old and Cartier Horse of the Year, with a race record that included five straight Group 1 wins, from the Dewhurst at two straight through to the Irish Champion Stakes the following autumn. By Siyouni (Fr) out of the Galileo (Ire) Group-winning mare Cabaret (Ire), he is a half-brother to the Classic winner Magna...

Japanese raider Shin Emperor (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) is on course to attempt an ambitious Group 1 double in the Irish Champion Stakes and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe after coming through a racecourse gallop at Longchamp on Sunday morning. Trained by Yoshito Yahagi, whose many international successes include a Breeders' Cup double in 2021, Shin Emperor was last seen in competitive action when finishing third in the G1 Japanese Derby in May. He arrived in Chantilly towards the end of last month and has slowly been building up his...