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Forever Young under Ryusei Sakai winning the Classic for Japan. (Jenny Doyle/Past The Wire)
From third in 2024 to victory in 2025 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1)
Breeders’ Cup World Championships
Breeders’ Cup Release
DEL MAR, Calif.–Susumu Fujita’s Forever Young (JPN) ($9), third in last year’s race behind Sierra Leone and Fierceness, turned the tables Saturday afternoon at Del Mar to win the 42nd running of the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) for 3-year-olds and up by a half-length over Sierra Leone.
Trained by Yoshito Yahagi and ridden by Ryusei Sakai, Forever Young covered the mile and a quarter over a fast track in 2:00.19. The victory is the third for Yahagi in the World Championships and first in the Classic. It is Sakai’s first Breeders’ Cup win.
More forwardly placed than last year, Forever Young tracked in third behind Contrary Thinking and Fierceness through opening fractions of :23.04, :45.97 and 1:10.48.
Approaching the far turn, Sakai gave Forever Young his cue and he swept to the front with Mindframe and Journalism also on the move and Fierceness saving ground on the inside. Forever Young maintained a safe margin over Fierceness and then was able to hold the late charge from Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone finished a length in front of Fierceness who was 2 ¼ lengths in front of Journalism with Mindframe, Baeza, Nevada Beach, Antiquarian and Contrary Thinking following in order.
Forever Young is a 4-year-old son of Real Steel (JPN) out of the Congrats mare Forever Darling. The victory was worth $3,640,000 and increased his earnings to $19,358,590 with a record of 13-10-0-3 that includes three Grade or Group 1 wins.
Quotes:
Winning owner Susumu Fujita (Forever Young (JPN)) – “My dream has come true, winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic. It was also the last opportunity to race against great 4-year-old, Sierra Leone and Fierceness as they are going to retire. Great to win the race against them as well.”
Winning trainer Yoshito Yahagi (Forever Young (JPN)) – “Training horses doesn’t usually go as I planned. He was 75% fit in his last appearance in the Nihon TV Hai and we were aiming to get him 100% fit here for the Classic. It went as I planned and he is a great horse who can make my plan real. He will stay in training and we would like to win all races he will run all over the world. The 2026 Classic at Keeneland is of course one of our options but it will be chilly in Kentucky!”
Winning jockey Ryusei Sakai (Forever Young (JPN)) – “He was in great shape. I was confident and raced in that prominent position. The race pace wasn’t slow at all but definitely easier than last year’s crazy pace. He isn’t a horse that handles tight bends very well and Del Mar’s homestretch isn’t long so we were preparing and training him for that. Whatever the way the race goes, I was only thinking about passing the winning post first.”
Second-place trainer Chad Brown (Sierra Leone) – “Huge run. Look, the winner ran a terrific race. He was up on the pace and kicked. I think the track played against us today. Not to take anything away from the winner, but it’s been speed all day. I’m so proud of my horse’s effort. So courageous to run against the bias and nearly get there. Listen, him and Forever Young are closely related and they’ve had a wonderful rivalry from the Derby on and today it was Forever Young’s day to find the winner’s circle and hats off to them. They’ve really done a good job of bringing this horse back and he really fought on. Even though the track played against us, Flavien (Prat) thought he had him measured and Forever Young just found a little more late. A deserving winner.”
Second-place jockey Flavien Prat (Sierra Leone) – “I thought I was going to get there ,and the winner just didn’t stop. I was comfortable… turning for home, I really thought I was going to make a big run, which he did, but I just couldn’t get by the winner.
“I’m very grateful to have been around such a good horse. He ran a good race again today.”
Third, fifth, and eighth-place trainer Todd Pletcher (Fierceness, Mindframe, and Antiquarian) – “(Fierceness) was in a difficult position. He’s inside of the pacemaker, so you either have to commit to try to make the lead and have a pacemaker pushing you or try to settle into a spot. He settled into a comfortable spot. He seemed like he was handling it pretty well. Johnny said the Japanese horse was kind of pushing him around around the far turn. He finally, finally got clear when some horses went on the outside. He got a decent run at him. It wasn’t an ideal scenario, but when we drew the one-hole we knew that it kind of handcuffed us a bit. That’s just kind of the way it worked out.”
On Mindframe: “Irad thought he had an opportunity to try to go, try to go win the race and put some pressure on the horses up front. He made his move, and then he just flattened out.”
Antiquarian: “Luis (Saez) said he was going OK until the middle of the turn, then he sort of came off the bridle and said he didn’t push him too hard after that.”
Third-place jockey John Velazquez (Fierceness) – It’s part of the racing, you know, the rabbit is there for a reason, and he (connections) wants me to put him in the lead. I can’t go with a rabbit, head and head with a rabbit, so I sat there. And then, the rabbit cost me, because he stopped in front of me and that was that.”
On the eventual winner making things tight for Fierceness: I know he had me there. I would have done the same thing. I’m not going to let him out, if it was me. So (the winner) rode his race with a very good strategy and it worked out for him.
Fourth-place trainer Michael McCarthy (Journalism) – “Very pleased. Bounced out of there, found ourselves in a great position down the front side. I thought Jose (Ortiz) did a wonderful job of keeping him with in contact of the leaders. Put in a big run around the turn to kind of get his head up for the lead. Bested by a 2-year-old champion, a (3-year-old champion) and a Japanese champion. So, he’s best of the 3-year-olds here today. Reload and see what we got for next year.”
Fourth-place jockey Jose Ortiz (Journalism) – “It’s (the trip) just what we wanted. We wanted to be a little bit forward today, he was there for me. He bounced out of there and Mike (McCarthy, trainer) had him ready. He ran a good race, and I was very excited around the three-eighth pole. I was in a great position. We fell short, but we had very nice horses in front of us. The Japanese horse (Forever Young, winner) is a world-traveled champion, 3-year-old of the year (Sierra Leone), Fierceness is very nice … very nice horses. He’s 3 and hopefully he comes back next year. Very excited to be on a horse like this.”
Fifth-place jockey Irad Ortiz Jr (Mindframe) – “We got a beautiful trip. I was waiting for the right time to go but he just got beat today. He tried.”
Sixth-place trainer John Shireffs (Baeza) – “I think the start cost us a lot. (Jockey Hector Berrios) said he wasn’t standing still in the gate, and when they opened it, he hopped a little bit. I would say he lost all chance at the start. He wasn’t able to get into his rhythm. He made a little move, but he wasn’t like he was at the (Pennsylvania) Derby. It really isn’t that disappointing. He is a fabulous horse, and he ran some great races, and this is just one race. He has his 4-year-old year ahead of him. I am one of those people that just turn the page. Move on.”
Sixth-place jockey Hector Berrious (Baeza) – “He was uncomfortable in the gate. He started to dance, and when they opened the gates, he jumped. From there I tried to get him comfortable again, and at first, he responded, but I tried to ask in the stretch and he got tired.”
Seventh-place trainer Bob Baffert (Nevada Beach) –– “It wasn’t the result we wanted. He got behind runners and he just didn’t take off. It was a tough race, he was in steep, but we took a crack at it.”
Seventh-place jockey Mike Smith (Nevada Beach) – “This is a tough bunch. He was there in a nice spot and at the three-eighths pole, the field quickened and left me (behind). He’s still lightly raced, and this wasn’t to his best liking, but he tried his best.”
Eighth-place jockey Luis Saez (Antiquarium) – “We picked up a beautiful spot but the horses in this field were so tough. They just kept going.”
Ninth-place jockey Florent Geroux (Contrary Thinking) – “All I wanted to do is make it fair for everyone, make sure we didn’t disturb anyone, but Sierra Leone just couldn’t get there.”
