Yahagi has every faith Forever Young is ready for Classic battle

Japanese expectations for Forever Young in the Breeders’ Cup Classic have been raised by the opinion of trainer Yoshito Yahagi that he has arrived in California on the back of a perfect preparation.

A winner of both the Saudi and UAE Derbys earlier in the year, the son of Real Steel was agonisingly denied in the Kentucky Derby in May, finishing third in a three-way photo finish behind Kenny McPeek’s Mystik Dan and fellow Classic contender, Chad Brown’s Sierra Leone.

That is his only reverse to date and a return to America has been on the cards ever since, tuning up for his Del Mar mission when thriving on home soil in the Japan Dirt Classic at the beginning of October.

Forever Young is one of three Japanese contenders in a truly international Classic, with Yahagi having happy memories of the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar, winning both the Filly & Mare Turf with Loves Only You and the Distaff with the Oisin Murphy-ridden Marche Lorraine in 2021.

Speaking through an interpreter on Thursday, Yahagi – who also numbers the Saudi Cup and Dubai Turf on his list of international achievements, courtesy of Panthalassa – said: “I am very pleased with his condition and think he’s coming into the race off a perfect preparation.

“It’s opposite to what happened earlier in the year when he went to Saudi and then Dubai ahead of the Kentucky Derby. I think that was too much, but the way he has settled in here at Del Mar is very encouraging.

“I don’t know how he will handle the kickback which he will probably experience as he is a horse that gets stronger as the race progresses.”