Real Steel

Real Steel debuted on 27 December 2014 in a race for previously unraced juveniles over 1800 metres of turf at Hanshin, winning by more than three lengths from Liberator under Yuichi Fukunaga, who would partner him throughout his three-year-old campaign. His 2015 season found him stepped up in class: he won the G3 Kyodo Tsushin Hai at Tokyo by half a length from Duramente, finished a neck second in the G2 Spring Stakes behind Kitasan Black, and contested the Japanese Triple Crown with three second placings and one fourth. In the Satsuki Shō (G1) he briefly took the lead in the straight before being passed by Duramente; in the Tokyo Yūshun he came home fourth behind the same rival; in the Kobe Shimbun Hai he was second to Lia Fail; and in the Kikuka Shō he produced what the racing press described as an "impressive kick" in the final 200 metres but failed by a neck to overhaul Kitasan Black. He received a rating of 116 in the 2015 World's Best Racehorse Rankings, ranking 139th in the world.

The 2016 campaign was the peak of his career. After a third placing in the G2 Nakayama Kinen behind Duramente and Ambitious, he was sent to the United Arab Emirates for the Dubai Turf (G1) on 26 March at Meydan. Partnered by Ryan Moore at odds of 8/1 in an international field of fifteen, he tracked the leaders on the outside while the 66/1 outsider Ghaamer set the early pace. Very Special took the lead 600 metres from home; Real Steel gained the advantage 200 metres out and kept on well to win by half a length from Euro Charline. Yahagi said afterwards: "I am elated and speechless. I am blessed with this horse and the people around me who have supported him". The rest of his year was uneven: eleventh in the Yasuda Kinen, second in the autumn Tennō Shō behind Maurice, and fifth in the Japan Cup where Kitasan Black confirmed his Horse of the Year status. The 2016 World's Best Racehorse Rankings raised him to 34th in the world with a rating of 120.

2017 brought disappointment. After a poor showing in the Nakayama Kinen he was withdrawn from the Dubai Turf when he bled from his nostrils after a training gallop, and stayed off the track for more than seven months. His comeback in the Mainichi Ōkan (G2) at Tokyo on 8 October, with Mirco Demuro, found him taking the lead 100 metres from the wire and holding off the late challenge of Satono Aladdin to win by a neck. Three weeks later he finished fourth in the autumn Tennō Shō. In 2018, as a six-year-old, he returned to Dubai aiming to repeat his 2016 victory: with Mickaël Barzalona he dead-heated for third with Deirdre in the Dubai Turf behind Benbatl and Vivlos. His final race was the Yasuda Kinen on 3 June, where he trailed home. He was retired shortly after when he sustained a torn ligament in his right foreleg.

Real Steel entered stud at Shadai Stallion Station with a final record of 17 starts, 4 wins —one of them G1—, earnings of JPY 900,792,300 and an elite competitive résumé. In 2024 he was moved to Breeders' Stallion Station, where his book was fully subscribed following his first progeny's strong showings in late 2023. His most prominent offspring include All Parfait (Daily Hai Nisai Stakes 2022), Lebensstil (St Lite Kinen 2023, Mainichi Ōkan 2025, Nakayama Kinen 2025), Chikappa (Hokkaido Sprint Cup) and, above all, Forever Young (Saudi Derby, UAE Derby, Tokyo Daishōten, two Saudi Cups and the 2025 Breeders' Cup Classic), the first Japanese-bred and Japanese-trained horse to win the American dirt classic. That last victory, eight years after Real Steel's own Dubai Turf, completed a generational arc: the Japanese stallion who had proven he could win outside his island bequeathed to the Japanese-born horse who would prove that dirt blood could dominate the world.