Susumu Fujita's Forever Young has been back on the worktab and trained well for the Tokyo Daishoten (G1) at Oi Racecourse Dec. 29, the year-end championship race on dirt which carries total purse of ¥170 million (approx. US$1.07 million).
After finishing third in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar, the 3-year-old colt trained by Yoshito Yahagi had an easy time at the Shigaraki Branch of Northern Farm upon returning from the United States. He returned to Ritto Training Center, where Yahagi has his training base, Dec. 7 to resume full training. He breezed six furlongs with Ryusei Sakai in the irons on Ritto's woodchip track Dec. 19 and clocked 1:20 4/5.
Yahagi has announced Forever Young will be shipped back to the Middle East to run the Feb. 22 Saudi Cup (G1) and the April 5 Dubai World Cup (G1).
It is an exciting renewal of Tokyo Daishoten, as the field includes Ushba Tesoro, who tries to win this race for the third time in a row; Wilson Tesoro, winner of JBC Classic at Saga Nov. 4, who was a narrowly beaten second by Lemon Pop in the Champions Cup (G1) at Chukyo Dec. 1; Derma Sotogake, who finished second in the 2023 Breeders' Cup Classic; and Ramjet, winner of Tokyo Derby at Oi June 5, who missed the Champions Cup due to a bruised foot.
The Tokyo Daishoten is the final grade 1 race in Japan in 2024.
