Forever Young has got this Saudi thing figured out and wrapped up. And he may not be done.
For the third straight year, the Japanese champion hooked up in a stretch duel with a highly talented rival in the long stretch at King Abdulaziz Racecourse. For the third straight year, he prevailed. This time, it was in the Feb. 14 Saudi Cup (G1), at the expense of one of America's best, Nysos.
And the outcome inflicted another agonizing stripe on the hide of trainer Bob Baffert, who now has finished second in this race four times. The winner's share is $10 million. Second gets $3.5 million. Happy Valentine's Day.
Both Forever Young and Nysos sat comfortably off the pace early in the Saudi Cup, held at 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles). Turning for home, jockey Ryusei Sakai slipped Forever Young through along the rail while Flavien Prat urged Nysos up outside of him.
It was close to the 200-meter marker when it began to appear Forever Young wasn't for catching. The final margin was 1 length and was not shrinking.
"I prefer shorter stretches," Baffert said before the race. But it wouldn't have made any difference.
Forever Young was clocked in 1:51.03 for the distance. He paid $2.70 for a $2 win wager in international pari-mutuel wagering.
Tumbarumba finished third, another 3 3/4 lengths back and 1 length better than Bishops Bay in fourth. Kenny McPeek trainee Rattle N Roll, who was fifth a year earlier, finished ninth and Baffert's second runner, Nevada Beach, reported 12th of 13 starters.
Actually, Forever Young, a 5-year-old son of Real Steel, seemed to have an easier time of it than when he edged Book'em Danno in the 2024 Saudi Derby (G3) and Hong Kong's globetrotting champ Romantic Warrior in a back-and-forth battle in the 2025 Cup.
"He's still not 100%," said trainer Yoshito Yahagi, "the Man in the Hat," who now has won three of the seven runnings of the Cup, also including Panthalassa in 2023. "But when he approached the top of the stretch, I was confident."
Baffert noted that feeling.
"That jockey just rides him with so much confidence," he said. "Well, even King Kong got beat."
Forever Young burst on the Japanese racing scene in October of 2023, winning his first three starts, finishing with the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun at Kawasaki Racecourse in December. That race was the second leg of the 2023-24 Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby but his connections decided to abandon that path and instead sent the colt to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the 2024 Saudi Derby.
Looking sluggish at the top of the long stretch, it appeared Forever Young was well beaten as New Jersey-based Book'em Danno spurted out to a huge lead. But once in gear, Forever Young closed the gap and won by a head. He had an easier time of it in the UAE Derby (G2) in Dubai a month later and earned a trip to the Kentucky Derby (G1).
That race produced a memorable three-way photo with Forever Young third, two noses behind Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone . After a long rest, he returned to win the Japan Dirt Classic in October, then was third in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), won by Sierra Leone. He concluded that season with a win in the Tokyo Daishoten (G1) at Oi Racecourse.
Forever Young produced his signature win in the 2025 Saudi Cup. In what boiled down to a two-horse race, he surrendered the lead to Hong Kong-based Romantic Warrior, then rallied to catch and defeat that proven world traveler by a neck. Trainer Yahagi blamed prerace misadventure for his subsequent third in the Dubai World Cup (G1).
After another long layoff and a prep in Japan, he returned to Del Mar to win the Breeders' Cup Classic, holding off familiar foe Sierra Leone by a half-length.
With the Saudi Cup part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, Forever Young earned a paid, automatic berth into this fall's Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland.
Nysos' performance, even in losing, arguably was a triumph in its own right. Despite his record coming into the Cup of seven wins from eight starts, Nysos has been a project for Baffert, his career interrupted by setbacks. He came to Saudi Arabia after winning the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and the Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes (G2) back home.
If he's to be believed, Saudi Arabia hasn't seen the last of the silver-haired trainer. Two days out from the race, Baffert noted the Saudi Cup is "a hole in my résumé. It's one race I haven't won and I want to win it.
"If we don't get it done this year, we'll keep coming back."
If he does, he may have to face Forever Young again.
"I'm delighted how he won," said owner Susumu Fujita. "The plan was to retire at the end of the year. But I could extend that by two more months for another Saudi Cup."
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