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The story
On September 18 local time, Forever Young (5-year-old colt, trained by Yoshito Yahagi), ridden by Ryusei Sakai, won the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1, dirt, 2,000m) at Belmont Park in the US, picking up his fourth overseas G1 win — the most ever by a Japanese-trained horse. Only four horses lined up for the race, but Forever Young took the lead at the final turn and cruised home unchallenged. On 5ch’s live-thread, opinions were split over the impact on his stud value and whether his next start will be the Arima Kinen or a bid to defend his Breeders’ Cup Classic title.
The Jockey Club Gold Cup (for 3-year-olds and up, G1, dirt 2,000m) was run at Belmont Park in the US on the 18th local time, and favorite Forever Young (5-year-old colt, trained by Yoshito Yahagi at Ritto), ridden by Ryusei Sakai, took the win. After a slightly wobbly start, he sat second in the four-horse field, then took the lead at the final turn and crossed the line unchallenged. His winning time was 2:01.23 (fast track).
Second place went to Stars and Stripes (4-year-old colt, trained by W. Mott in the US), the fourth favorite, and third went to Baeza (4-year-old colt, also trained by W. Mott), the second favorite.
This is Forever Young’s fourth overseas G1 win, the most ever for a Japanese-trained horse. The commanding victory in his first autumn start builds momentum toward a possible title defense in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Source: dir.netkeiba.com / Original article here
What people said
Dirt horses can usually race a bit longer, but I think he's retiring this year
I liked it though
He already won the BC Classic last year
So yeah, even repeating that this year probably won't raise his value further
There's still the Eclipse Award Horse of the Year race to be won though
Depending on the competition it might still go up
Though beating scrubs won't do much
They really need to take good care of him and let him recover
Even I could win that race
The plan is for his last race to be the Arima Kinen
This year's Arima is looking crazy interesting
No, next is defending his BC Classic title
Why would you skip the main goal, lol
'Forever Young' comes from the theme song of an Abema drama
Isn't it from the band Alphaville?
Yahagi wouldn't push a horse already set for stud duty that hard
And this for a race with a $600,000 winner's purse
So that's about ¥100 million added to his yen earnings
But the weak yen makes it rough…
How much more until he's #1 in career earnings worldwide?
Maybe everyone ran scared because he's too strong
That happens a lot overseas though
Even with only 4 runners
It's a G1, but I don't think the purse is actually that huge
The upcoming BC Classic is the one with the big money
The 1997 International Stakes also had just 4 runners, but what a stacked field it was —
1st: Singspiel (winner of the '97 Dubai World Cup [then a Listed race] and the '96 Japan Cup)
2nd: Desert King ('97 Irish Derby, '97 Irish 2,000 Guineas)
3rd: Benny the Dip ('97 Epsom Derby)
4th: Bosra Sham ('97 Prince of Wales's Stakes [then a G2], '96 Champion Stakes, '96 1,000 Guineas)
Amazing lineup.
https://youtu.be/ggL7Pb2h1A8
Bosra Sham vs. Halling in the '96 Champion Stakes was incredible
Would've loved to see what kids Ichiro or Saori Yoshida would've had
I wonder how the kid of Yoshitomo Tani and Ryoko Tani turned out
>One of the sport's prestigious races, long considered the decider for the best dirt horse of the fall — though in recent years that status has been taken over by the Breeders' Cup Classic, established in 1984.
It's a prep race these days, but this race itself still carries some real prestige, no?
The Jockey Club Gold Cup probably lost value once the BC Classic was created in 1984
That's old history — the last Eclipse Award winner to come out of this race was Summer Bird back in '09, and it's been fading since
Even two of them combined wouldn't add up to that, lol
Background and Talking Points
Before the Breeders’ Cup was created in 1984, the Jockey Club Gold Cup was the historic race considered the decider for the best dirt horse of the fall; today it functions as a prep race for the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Without that context, it’s easy to fixate only on the small field and ask “why does a G1 have just four runners?” — but the field shrank from a planned seven down to four after three scratches, and a thin field doesn’t by itself undercut the race’s prestige. The thread was also split on what this means for Forever Young’s stud value: some argued that, having already won last year’s BC Classic, more dirt wins won’t push his value any higher, while others noted he’s still in contention for the Eclipse Award Horse of the Year — though both takes remain speculation. As for his next start, talk of an Arima Kinen run versus a BC Classic title defense has been swirling, but nothing has been officially announced, so as of this writing it remains an open question.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Horse Racing] Forever Young wins in style! First Japanese horse to reach 4 overseas G1 wins… US Jockey Club GC.”
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