By Brian Sheerin
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 also revealed that the four-year-old was likely to race on next season and that a tilt at one of Europe's major turf races, namely the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, was a possibility.
“Huge pressure,” the trainer admitted at a press conference organised by the Dubai Racing Club on Wednesday morning. “I couldn't wait to see his breeze yesterday [Tuesday] morning and, after the breeze, I checked him and he seems to have improved from the Saudi Cup so I am happy.”
Yahagi added, “Of course he had a tough race [in the Saudi Cup] and he was a little bit tired afterwards – it took him about a week to recover from that race. My staff looked after him really well and from there the plan was always to come here and compete at the Dubai World Cup. He's recovered well and his condition is very good. I actually think, through experiencing that tough race, he has improved from that level of competition. I believe it's all positive – I don't think anything negative.”
Forever Young has won seven of his nine starts and accumulated over £11 million in career earnings. He was also successful on this undercard 12 months ago when taking out the G2 UAE Derby but has yet to race on turf. That could all change in time, according to Yahagi, who was weighing up options beyond Saturday.
He said, “Definitely, the Breeders' Cup Classic is our main target because the American horses have not come here and they don't come to Japan either. That's why we need to go and compete against the highest level of dirt horses in the world. At the moment, we are talking with his owner about him remaining in training in 2026. Japanese racing fans want to see Forever Young run on the turf and we discussed this with his owner and are thinking of running him on turf at some point before the end of his career. But we don't know and haven't decided which race. Maybe the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, the Japan Cup or the Grand Prix Arima Kinen.”
On what it would mean to land a breakthrough $12 million Dubai World Cup triumph, Yahagi added, “The Dubai World Cup is one of the biggest races in the world and my staff even mentioned that it is a race we want to win. It means a lot to us. Back in 2011, straight after the devastating Japanese earthquake, Victoire Pisa (Jpn) delivered a Japanese winner [of the Dubai World Cup] on that day. That was meaningful for the Japanese people and the people of Japan took so much encouragement from that. The Dubai World Cup is so popular and this race has huge prestige and history.”
Stablemate Shin Emperor (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) boasts massive claims in the Dubai Sheema Classic. Placed in last year's Irish Champion Stakes, Shin Emperor was last seen winning the G2 Neom Turf Cup at the Saudi Cup meeting and provides Yahagi with added reason to be excited for Saturday's action. Both horses will be ridden by Ryusei Sakai.
Yahagi said, “Shin Emperor really enjoys the environment here in Dubai. Maybe he's even a little bit too relaxed so that's why we asked him for a little bit more yesterday [Tuesday] when we breezed him. We wanted him to be really ready for the race. I haven't seen much improvement in him from last time out but he maintains a high level of form to be competitive in the Sheema Classic.”
Forever Young drew stall five at a lavish ceremony later on Wednesday morning while Romantic Warrior was handed stall nine in his bid for a 11th Group 1 win in the Dubai Turf. Yahagi seemed pleased to avoid an inside draw for Forever Young, stating, “the wider we got, the better.”
Meanwhile, trainer Kenny McPeek, who is bidding to become the first American trainer to win the Dubai World Cup since Country Grammer did the business for Bob Baffert in 2022, was visibly pleased about being allotted stall two for his charge Rattle N Roll (Connect).
McPeek said, “The inside draw was good. It's a long run to the first turn and he can tuck in and find his way from there. In these races you need to save as much ground as possible.”
Click here for a link to the complete Dubai World Cup night fields.
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