Forever Young comes out tops in epic desert duel
RIYADH - Japan's Forever Young bested Hong Kong's Romantic Warrior by a neck in the US$20 million (S$26.7 million) Group 1 Saudi Cup (1,800m) at the King Abdulaziz Racecourse on Feb 22.
The head-to-head clash so many had hoped for materialised in a fascinating tactical battle.
Breaking well from the outermost barrier 14 under Ryusei Sakai, Forever Young ($16) slotted over without a hitch and landed pristinely into the path, following the front-running Walk Of Stars (Tadhg O'Shea) down the backstretch, with Al Musmak (Muhammad Aldaham) and Defunded (Antonio Fresu) contesting the lead to his outside.
Meanwhile, Kiwi jockey James McDonald and Romantic Warrior elected to switch a little wide to stay out of the kickback as it was the Danny Shum-trained galloper's first attempt on dirt.
Entering the turn in the 1,800m race, Forever Young took a slight lead between horses, which was short-lived when Romantic Warrior made a five-wide bid approaching the completion of the turn, circling all of the aforementioned to take the race by the throat.
It looked very much as if the world's record-breaking money earner would be adding a significant further sum to his haul.
However, the Acclamation seven-year-old could never shake off the attention of Sakai, whose mount had won the 2024 Group 3 Saudi Derby (1,600m) on the dirt track.
The Yoshito Yahagi-trained Forever Young could not only still breathe – he was in full steam, chasing Romantic Warrior home down the stretch to win in the shadow of the wire in a swift time of 1min 49.09sec.
2024 Saudi Cup runner-up Ushba Tesoro (Akira Sugawara) finished 10½ lengths behind Romantic Warrior while his stablemate Wilson Tesoro (Yuga Kawada) ran another 1¾ lengths away in fourth.
On a day when the Japanese team dominated the nine-race meeting with four victories, its quartet of contenders in the world's richest race finished within the top six, with Ramjet (Kosei Miura) last of them, just one length astern of fifth-placed American contender Rattle N Roll (Joel Rosario).
The Susumu Fujita-owned Forever Young also became the first horse to win the Saudi Derby-Saudi Cup double.
The victory was Forever Young's eighth from 10 starts and second at the top level, following his win in the 2024 Group 1 Tokyo Daishoten (2,000m). He also ran third in America's two most prestigious races, the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic in 2024.
Yahagi, Sakai and Fujita had also earlier won the US$2million Group 2 Howden Neom Turf Cup (2,100m) with Shin Emperor in Race 6. Yahagi was as elated at his second victory in the Saudi Cup after claiming the 2023 edition with the now-retired Panthalassa.
"This is my second win in the Saudi Cup, but no matter how many wins you have in the Saudi Cup, it is still a great feeling. I didn't have confidence but I believed in him (Forever Young)," he said.
"He was not in the best condition when he came to run in the Saudi Derby but he still won.
"Since that time, he has improved a lot and was in better condition today. I would like to thank all the people of the Saudi Cup who supported us. We will go to the (Group 1) Dubai World Cup (2,000m)."
Sakai also believed in the four-year-old son of Real Steel's ability to win.
"He jumped very well from the wide gate in 14 and got into a nice position without a problem. It was my tactics to run that way in that situation," said Sakai.
"I believed in Forever Young, I never thought I'd lose the race. This is the best moment in my life."
In spite of the narrow second, McDonald still praised Romantic Warrior for his brave run.
"He ran incredibly well. I was very proud of him. He flowed into the race well and used his momentum nicely, so it was a terrific effort," he said.
"He was gallant in defeat. He got a little bit of kickback but sidled around just beautifully.
"I can safely say I wasn't stopping, I didn't alter my pace at all. It just shows what a great horse Forever Young is and what a race it was."
Shum was equally proud of his charge's first race on the dirt.
"He ran good. It was his first run on the dirt. He was only beaten by Forever Young and he is a very tough dirt horse," said the Hong Kong trainer.
"James was happy with him, so I'm happy with him. He beat the third horse by lengths. He will go back to Dubai for the (Group 1) Dubai Turf (1,800m)."
JOCKEY CLUB OF SAUDI ARABIA
