For Japanese superstar Forever Young, twice bit in previous voyages to the United States, the third time paid for all. After a 2024 season that included a tenacious losing effort in the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve and a third-best finish in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, it seemed as if the American contingent, particularly Sierra Leone, simply had the colt’s number. Trainer Yoshito Yahagi knew he could turn the tables. “Of course, yes, after we got third – we got beat – we think about coming back here to revenge,” Yahagi said. In the 2025 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar, the stage could not have been set better for Forever Young’s shot at redemption. His stretch run alongside Sierra Leone and Fierceness so closely mirrored their three-horse battle in 2024, but this time, the Japanese star and jockey Ryusei Sakai prevailed. In the third Classic victory for a non-American horse, Forever Young defeated fast-closing Sierra Leone by a half-length, sweet revenge after that pair careened home together in the Kentucky Derby the year before. :: Full list of 2025 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories Bred in Japan by Northern Racing, Forever Young was sired by Japanese stakes winner Real Steel out of Forever Darling, a Kentucky-bred mare who won the Grade 2 Santa Ynez in 2016. He was purchased for $720,603 at the 2022 JRHA select yearling and foal sale by Fujita Susumu, who has owned him throughout his career. In four starts, he earned $15.1 million in 2025. To less attentive American fans, it might have seemed like Forever Young simply reappeared in this year’s Breeders’ Cup, a swift apparition haunting his stateside rivals. But it is within his jet-setting 4-year-old campaign that one can find the moments that made the icon. Already an international star, Forever Young launched to new heights in his 4-year-old debut. In the $20 million Saudi Cup in February, Sakai urged him to a rousing victory over Romantic Warrior, now a 16-time stakes winner based in Hong Kong. It was a king-making performance, but the validation was short-lived. In the Dubai World Cup the following month, Forever Young was left stunned when American longshots Hit Show and Mixto hit the wire together, leaving him in a frustratingly familiar third. The colt did not run again for six months, but when he kicked clear to win the Nippon TV Hai on Oct. 1 at Funabashi in Japan, it was clear that Yahagi was still preparing for redemption. The following month, he and his colt traveled to California and made history. It is impossible to separate Forever Young from Japan’s racing industry. He is part of a larger narrative surrounding the nation’s relatively muted success in American racing, despite decades of development and immense international success. Between near misses in the Kentucky Derby and inconsistent showings in the Breeders’ Cup, the next breakthrough began to feel overdue. When Forever Young dug in to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, he and Yahagi were exorcising personal demons, proving that the colt could stand up against his American rivals. But when he shattered that ceiling, he did so for his country as well, and in years to come, his victory may be looked back on as the next step in a new and exciting era. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.