Forever Young dominates the JCGC with ease, NYRA Photo
Mary Eddy
Live racing made its triumphant return to the new and reimagined Belmont Park as Susumu Fujita’s Japanese superstar Forever Young posted a dominant 3 1/4-length victory in the 108th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup, cementing the venue’s distinction as an international destination for the best in racing.
An energetic and appreciative crowd was on hand to witness the now five-time Group/Grade 1-winning son of Real Steel capture the 10-furlong route for 3-year-olds and up, providing him a berth into the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic in October at Keeneland, where he will look to defend his title after capturing last year’s edition over Sierra Leone at Del Mar.
Following a three-year project to transform Belmont Park into a world-class sports and entertainment destination, The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) celebrated the highly anticipated return to racing at the historic racetrack with Friday’s card, highlighted by Forever Young’s successful first foray in the Empire State under regular pilot Ryusei Sakai.
Trainer Yoshito Yahagi, whose comments were translated by Fujita’s racing manager Hiroshi Ando, expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to showcase his prized pupil on a marquee day in New York racing history.
“I’d like to say thanks to Belmont Park to support us and we are really glad to have won the Opening Day Jockey Club Gold Cup,” Yahagi said. “That’s a special memory, our day. This achievement is great for us.
“Normally when we travel all over the world, we felt a little away, but when we come to America, always American people welcome our horse and we feel really warm from everybody, like we came back home, and appreciate that,” he added.
The 5-year-old bay’s decisive win came in the first stakes race to be run over the newly-renovated main track, making his first start off a nearly six-month respite dating to a one-length second in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup in March at Meydan. Forever Young, who attracted fans from far and wide to Belmont Park to watch him compete in America for the fourth time, added to previous topflight success in back-to-back editions of the $20 million Saudi Cup in 2025-26 at King Abdulaziz Racecourse, and the 2024 Tokyo Daishoten in his native country, where is undefeated through six efforts.
The Jockey Club Gold Cup saw a field of four assemble following the scratches of Chunk of Gold, Banishing and Render Judgment, leaving the trio of Baeza, Stars and Stripes and Phileas Fogg as the challengers to 2-5 mutuel favorite Forever Young, who emerged from the outside post.
Grade 1-winner Baeza, who has struggled to leave the gate sharply in his three starts this year, was away slowly again from the inside post under Junior Alvarado while the other three rivals squeezed together before Phileas Fogg took his expected place at the helm through opening splits of 25.04 seconds and 48.34 over the fast footing.
A patient Sakai held Forever Young just off Phileas Fogg down the backstretch, and crept closer after the first half-mile to apply mild pressure with Stars and Stripes tracking in third and Baeza trailing far back. Approaching the turn, Sakai nudged his charge for more to the outside of dual Grade 2-winner Phileas Fogg, and quickly matched strides with him before floating wide to unleash his full run following three-quarters in 1:11.96.
There were few tense moments for the fan favorite Forever Young as he reached the mile call in 1:36.03 and stormed down the center of the course in solitude with the Hall of Famer John Velazquez-trained Stars and Stripes giving chase along the inside. Velazquez implored his mount for more in the final eighth, but Forever Young – despite not switching leads – drove through the wire well in front to complete the course in 2:01.23.
Stars and Stripes, who won Saratoga Race Course’s Listed Birdstone at 1 3/4 miles last out, performed admirably to land second as the 15-1 longest shot in the field, while Baeza ran on belatedly to pick up third and Phileas Fogg faded to fourth.
Sakai has been aboard Forever Young for each of his 16 starts across 10 racetracks in four countries, and said his charge would have been better served by a quicker tempo.
“He doesn’t have any problems with a slow pace, but I wish we had a quicker pace to prepare for the Breeders’ Cup,” Sakai said. “He had a good response at the top stretch, because the pace was not quick enough. When I asked him, he responded well.”
Yahagi said he was pleased to win the race, but he hopes Forever Young can improve second off the layoff.
“Obviously we won this race, that’s of course 100 percent satisfied [with] that, but Forever Young’s performance-wise, I’m not happy about, around 50 percent satisfied how he performed like today,” Yahagi said. “Physically, we think fitness is 80 percent, but inside for lungs or these things performance-wise, it wasn’t enough for me.”
Forever Young trained into the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park for eight days leading up to the race, and will remain here to continue improving his fitness ahead of the Breeders’ Cup in late October.
“You know Belmont Park complex has a great society and good for training, so we will try to stay until October 20,” Yahagi said. “Then we will fly from here to Keeneland on October 20th, so we will prepare here.”
Yahagi has trained the likes of Breeders’ Cup winners Marche Lorraine and Loves Only You, but said Forever Young is in a league of his own.
“I think I will never see a horse like this again in my life and in my career,” he concluded.
Forever Young returned $2.94 on a $2 win ticket, and banked $555,000 in victory, increasing his lifetime purse earnings to a remarkable $32.3 million. He improved his ledger to 16-12-1-3, which includes close third-place finishes to Mystik Dan in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and to Sierra Leone in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2024. He is the reigning Japanese Horse of the Year and Eclipse Award Champion Older Dirt Male.
Bred by Northern Racing, he is out of the Grade 2-winning Congrats mare Forever Darling, a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Heavenly Love – dam of Forever Young’s familiar foe Sierra Leone.
Hall of Famer Bill Mott saddled both Stars and Stripes and Baeza, and while he was proud of the effort from the former, the latter remains a puzzle as he continues to struggle leaving the gate.
“Stars and Stripes ran really well. I was impressed with him,” Mott said. “He ran hard. Winning at a mile and three quarters last time [winning the Birdstone] and backing up that much in distance, he came on and made a nice run. He ran all the way to the wire really good.
“No excuses [for Baeza],” he added. “Junior had no horse under him. The horse was never taking him anywhere. He might have broke a little better, but he [Alvarado] said he was never really into the bridle.”
Live racing resumes Saturday at Belmont with a 10-race card, featuring the $175,000 Floral Park in Race 9. First post is 12:05 p.m. Eastern.
America’s Day at the Races presents daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule/.
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