Forever Young’s Race To Lose, And Here’s How

The NYRA’s execs, who have just added a fourth track and magnificently rebuilt the Belmont grandstand/clubhouse and their amenities over the last three years, as well as America’s racing community, were very much hoping for the storied track’s re-opening on Friday that a 2026 Jockey Club Gold Cup showdown between reigning American Thoroughbred Sovereignty, trained by William Mott, and the international star Forever Young, trained by Yoshito Yahagi, would grace the star feature. As we know, Sovereignty developed a hoof abscess that caused his team to divert him from the race, which had the effect of both opening and closing the field for the $1-million race.

The “default” favorite, so to speak, is unsurprisingly the defending Breeders’ Cup Classic champion Forever Young, long aimed at the race. Having spent the majority of his five years overseas, the question arises: Who the heck is he, really?

But before we get into what sort of race we think Bill Mott’s Baeza and Gustavo Rodriguez’ Phileas Fogg will have to bring to take down Forever Young on Belmont’s long-awaited gala re-opening tomorrow afternoon, here’s the refresher on the short but quite talented 7-horse Jockey Club field.

(Post Position, Horse, Jockey, Trainer, Morning Line)

1. Baeza, Junior Alvarado, Bill Mott, 9-2

2. Stars and Stripes, John Velazquez, Bill Mott, 15-1

3. Chunk of Gold, Jaime Torres, Ethan West, 12-1

4. Phileas Fogg, Kendrick Carmouche, Gustavo Rodriguez, 4-1

5. Banishing, Joel Rosario, David Jacobson, 12-1

6. Render Judgment, Manny Franco, Kenny McPeek, 20-1

7. Forever Young, Ryusei Sakai, Yoshito Yahagi, 3-5

(Source: NYRA, 9/17/2026)

To say that the Japan-bred champion Forever Young – pictured top fourth from the rail as he surges past Sierra Leone, Fierceness and Journalism to win the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar – is a justly-picked favorite to win this Friday’s $1-million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont is to undersell the five-year-old globe-trotting champion. He has eleven outright Grade 1 wins, including two consecutive Saudi Cups, the Dubai Derby, the UAE Derby, and last March 28 ran second to Magnitude in the Dubai World Cup. His earnings in Japan, the Middle East and the States are nosing up on $30 million to date, and his Zenlike champion trainer, Yoshito Yahagi and Zen archer-like champion jockey, Ryusei Sakai, show every sign of not stopping their world-beating campaign with their athlete.

That Friday’s Jockey Club Gold Cup serves as a win-and-you’re-in prep for the 2026 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland this year is a fact not lost on the 2025 Classic champion’s connections. If it works for him, he’ll try to go back-to-back in the Breeders’. That’s what this race means.

Okay, now that we’ve gotten here, who’s going to take a shot at him, and how?