While reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty's participation in the Sept. 18 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) remains in doubt, Japanese star Forever Young is on course to start in the $1 million race on the opening day of the fall meet at a reconstructed Belmont Park.
He and stablemate Shin Emperor, a fellow Yoshito Yahagi trainee aimed at the Sept. 26 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1T) at Belmont, arrived in New York overnight. The New York Racing Association posted video to its social media accounts of them leaving a horse van and arriving in their stalls.
FOREVER YOUNG has arrived at @BelmontPark1905 ahead of the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup on September 18! pic.twitter.com/7nJPGA7MlO
— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA) September 8, 2026
They now enter quarantine, as is customary for an equine traveling from overseas. Later this week, they can begin training if their blood work clears.
Forever Young is the likely favorite if Sovereignty does not participate because of missed training from a foot abscess, though other horses would likely join the lineup for the 1 1/4-mile race if he does not run. As part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, the Jockey Club Gold Cup provides a fees paid, automatic berth for its winner into the $7 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) Oct. 31 at Keeneland.
Susumu Fujita's Forever Young, an earner of more than $31.7 million, won the Breeders' Cup Classic last year after a third-place finish the year before in 2024. Subsequently shipped to the Middle East in the early part of the year, the 5-year-old son of Reel Steel captured the Feb. 14 Saudi Cup (G1) in a follow-up start before a runner-up finish in his last race, the March 28 Dubai World Cup (G1).
