Statistics
Calculated on the record loaded in Turfdex.
- Races
- 15
- Wins
- 11
- Win rate
- 73.3%
- Place rate
- 80%
Show rate: 100% · Seconds: 1 · Thirds: 3
Official career record
Career record reported by the official source — may not match the record loaded above.
- Starts
- 15
- Wins
- 11
- 2nd
- 1
- 3rd
- 3
- Earnings
- ¥4.94B
Awards & honors
8 awards earned during the career.
JRA Awards(3)
- 2025Source
Japanese Horse of the Year (JRA)
Primer caballo dirt en ganarlo en la historia del premio JRA Horse of the Year.
- 2025Source
JRA Award for Best Dirt Horse
Mejor caballo de pista de arena en la temporada JRA 2025.
- 2025Source
JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse
Mejor caballo macho de 4 años o más en la temporada JRA 2025.
Eclipse Awards(1)
- 2025Source
American Champion Older Dirt Male Horse (Eclipse Award)
Primer caballo entrenado en Japón en ganar un Eclipse Award en categoría dirt.
NTRA(1)
- 2025Source
NTRA Moment of the Year
Por la victoria en el Breeders' Cup Classic 2025 — primer JP-bred y JP-trained en ganar la prueba.
NAR(2)
JRA — Other(1)
- 2024Source
JRA Special Award
Premio especial JRA por la campaña 2024 con victorias en Saudi Derby + UAE Derby.
Full record
15 races
2026
2 races- 2°Mar 28
- 1°Saudi Cup(draft)G1Feb 14
King Abdulaziz Racetrack(draft) · Jockey: Ryusei Sakai(draft)
2025
4 races- 1°Nov 1
- 1°Nippon TV Hai(draft)ListedOct 1
Funabashi Racecourse(draft) · Jockey: Ryusei Sakai(draft)
- 3°Apr 5
- 1°Saudi Cup(draft)G1Feb 22
King Abdulaziz Racetrack(draft) · Jockey: Ryusei Sakai(draft)
2024
6 races- 1°Tokyo Daishōten(draft)G1Dec 29
Ohi Racecourse(draft) · Jockey: Ryusei Sakai(draft)
- 3°Nov 2
- 1°Japan Dirt Classic(draft)ListedOct 2
Ohi Racecourse(draft) · Jockey: Ryusei Sakai(draft)
- 3°Kentucky Derby(draft)G1May 4
Churchill Downs(draft) · Jockey: Ryusei Sakai(draft)
- 1°Mar 30
- 1°Saudi Derby(draft)G3Feb 24
King Abdulaziz Racetrack(draft) · Jockey: Ryusei Sakai(draft)
2023
3 races- 1°Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun(draft)ListedDec 13
Kawasaki Racecourse(draft) · Jockey: Ryusei Sakai(draft)
- 1°JBC Nisai Yushun(draft)ListedNov 3
Monbetsu Racecourse(draft) · Jockey: Ryusei Sakai(draft)
- 1°Kyoto Newcomer 2YO Dirt 1800m(draft)Oct 14
Kyoto Racecourse(draft) · Jockey: Ryusei Sakai(draft)
History
Forever Young was born on February 24, 2021 at Northern Farm, Japan's most prolific breeding operation, in Hokkaido. His sire, Real Steel, was the 2016 Dubai Turf winner and a son of the legendary Deep Impact; his dam, Forever Darling, had raced in the United States without major results but carried a deep pedigree with A.P. Indy and Deputy Minister behind her. The cross brought together two distinct traditions: the Sunday Silence male line that dominates modern Japanese dirt racing and the classic North American dirt blood from the dam side.
At the 2022 JRHA Select Sale he was purchased by Susumu Fujita, founder of the CyberAgent group, for 107,800,000 yen — a high figure but not exceptional for that year's catalog. Fujita placed him with Yoshito Yahagi, a Ritto-based trainer with international experience including the Breeders' Cup 2021 wins of Loves Only You and Marche Lorraine.
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His two-year-old season was flawless. He debuted on October 14, 2023 at Kyoto, winning by four lengths. Three weeks later he took the JBC Nisai Yushun at Monbetsu and closed the year with the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun at Kawasaki by seven lengths, all on dirt. With three wins in three starts and a Timeform rating of 113, he was rated the best dirt 2yo in the history of the Japanese Thoroughbred Ranking.
His international run began in February 2024 with a track record in the Saudi Derby (G3) at King Abdulaziz Racetrack and continued with the UAE Derby (G2) at Meydan, won by two lengths. He reached the Kentucky Derby unbeaten and as one of the favorites; in a finish decided by a nose, he was third behind Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone, in one of the closest photo finishes in the history of the Churchill Downs classic. He returned to Japan in October and won the Japan Dirt Classic (JpnI) at Ohi. In November he attempted the Breeders' Cup Classic 2024 at Del Mar, finishing third behind Sierra Leone. He closed the year in December with the Tokyo Daishōten (G1), his first win in an internationally recognized G1.
The 2025 season was his coronation. In February he won the Saudi Cup (G1) by a neck over Romantic Warrior, adding 10 million dollars to his earnings. In April he was third in the Dubai World Cup. After a planned break, he returned in October to win the Nippon TV Hai (JpnII) at Funabashi and weeks later traveled to Del Mar for the Breeders' Cup Classic 2025, winning by half a length over Sierra Leone — the first horse bred and trained in Japan to take the race regarded as the highest-ranked dirt prize on the North American calendar. That campaign earned him three JRA Awards distinctions (Horse of the Year, Best Older Male, Best Dirt Horse), with Horse of the Year going to a dirt horse for the first time in the award's history, and the Eclipse Award for American Champion Older Dirt Male Horse, also a first for a Japanese-trained horse in a dirt category.
The 2026 season added a historic record. On February 14 he returned to King Abdulaziz Racetrack and won the Saudi Cup for a second consecutive year, becoming the first horse to do so in the short history of the race. On March 28 in the Dubai World Cup he was second, beaten one length by Magnitude. As of late May 2026, his next announced target was the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Ascot, his first attempt on turf and in Europe.
Through the first half of 2026, Forever Young's record showed 15 starts and 11 wins, with cross-jurisdiction earnings just over 4.9 billion yen — the highest figure for a Japanese-trained dirt horse. His Breeders' Cup Classic 2025 victory was named the NTRA Moment of the Year and helped cement Japan's presence on the international dirt scene, a surface on which the country had traditionally been competitive only domestically. In February 2026 his addition to the Umamusume: Pretty Derby franchise — a Japanese multimedia property that adapts real racehorses as characters — was announced, extending his cultural impact beyond the core racing audience.
Pedigree
3 generations — sire/dam and grandparents
Forever Young
2021
Sire
Real Steel
2012
Dam
Forever Darling
2013
Deep Impact
2002
Profile not published
Loves Only Me
2006
Profile not published
Congrats
2000
Profile not published
Darling My Darling
1997
Profile not published
Sources
Citations backing the data on this profile. Each row links to the original source.
- Whole profileWikipedia EN — Forever Young (horse) — en.wikipedia.org (May 9, 2026)
- Whole profileWikipedia JA — フォーエバーヤング (競走馬) — ja.wikipedia.org (May 9, 2026)
- Whole profileJBIS — Forever Young (perfil oficial JP) — jbis.jp (May 9, 2026)
- Whole profileWikidata — Q123408146 — wikidata.org (May 9, 2026)
- AWARDSBreeders' Cup oficial — breederscup.com (November 1, 2025)
- AWARDSSaudi Cup oficial — saudicup.com.sa (February 14, 2026)