The great Hong Kong star Romantic Warrior hit the wire a split second after Forever Young in the $20 million Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh six weeks ago. Saturday night in Dubai, Romantic Warrior will hit the wire about one hour and 15 minutes before Forever Young, and that’s why Forever Young is a virtual lock to win the $12 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse.
With more prudent tactics, Romantic Warrior, making his dirt debut, might have beaten Forever Young in the Saudi Cup, one of the great showdowns of recent vintage. But Romantic Warrior’s connections planned all along to return Romantic Warrior to grass after the Saudi race, and on the World Cup card, Romantic Warrior runs as an odds-on favorite in the $5 million Dubai Turf.
That means Forever Young meets 10 rivals in the World Cup who can’t touch him unless Forever Young fails to approach his baseline or finds seriously compromising trouble.
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Ironically, the top of the American older-horse dirt route division has strength this spring: White Abarrio, Sierra Leone, Locked, Fierceness, even Mindframe could credibly challenge Forever Young. None of those horses has left the United States. Instead, the American contingent for the World Cup consists of Hit Show, Il Miracolo, Katonah, Mixto, and Rattle N Roll. That’s not a proven Grade 1 quintet. Mixto won a modest renewal of the Grade 1 Pacific Classic last summer, Rattle N Roll and Hit Show won Grade 2s last autumn, and Katonah a very soft Grade 2 in January.
The other entrants in the 2,000-meter (about 1 1/4 miles) World Cup include two trained by Bhupat Seemar, Walk of Stars and Imperial Emperor. Seemar won the 2024 World Cup with Laurel River, who had one start this winter but in the end was unable to make the World Cup. Walk of Stars, a front-runner, beat Imperial Emperor by nearly three lengths Jan. 24 at Meydan in the Maktoum Challenge, but stopped badly after setting the early pace in the Saudi Cup. Imperial Emperor returned to easily capture the Al Maktoum Classic on March 1. In second came Artorius, a 6-year-old whose last win came in a second-level allowance race 11 months ago at Aqueduct.
Three more Japan-based horses fill out the field. Ushba Tesoro won the 2023 Dubai World Cup, but Forever Young has dominated him three races in a row. Wilson Tesoro rates no better chance than Ushba Tesoro, Ramjet a worse one.
Quickly it becomes clear no one can touch an in-form Forever Young, and trainer Yoshito Yahagi said this week that Forever Young exited his epic Saudi Cup battle a stronger horse than the one who went into it.
“I’ve been asked a lot about how he has come out of the race and his overall condition, and some people have been concerned,” Yahagi said at a press conference. “But I actually think that having experienced that tough race he has improved another level. I think it’s all positive. I don’t see any negatives.”
Forever Young will break from post 5 under regular rider Ryusei Sakai and will do so at approximately 1:30 p.m. Eastern. The Dubai Racing Club pushed post times for the nine-race card (eight Thoroughbred contests follow the Kahayla Classic for Arabians) back one hour owing to hot weather; the mercury could climb to 95 degrees on Saturday.
Forever Young and Romantic Warrior stand out as the program’s hot favorites. Rebel’s Romance, Calandagan, and Shin Emperor head the $6 million Sheema Classic. America runners hold solid chances in dirt undercard races. Eclipse Award winner Straight No Chaser must deal with local star and defending champion Tuz in the Dubai Golden Shaheen. Trainer Doug O’Neill for months has aimed Raging Torrent at the Godolphin Mile. Flood Zone, winner of the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct with a strong 98 Beyer Speed Figure, faces four Japan-based horses in the U.A.E. Derby: Whoever wins qualifies for the Kentucky Derby.
Forever Young’s connections must still rue last year’s Derby. After winning his first three starts in Japan, Forever Young pulled a Middle East double, landing the Saudi Derby and the U.A.E. Derby, before another long journey took him to Kentucky. Making a strong, sustained run from 16th, Forever Young came out on the wrong end of a three-horse photo with Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone, and it’s reasonable to believe Forever Young wins if Sierra Leone and his rider had not laid all over Forever Young through the final half-furlong.
Just as the Derby capped a six-start campaign that began with Forever Young’s debut the previous October, the World Cup caps a five-race campaign that began this past October in Japan. It’s not quite right saying Forever Young’s third-place finish in a highly rated renewal of the Breeders’ Cup Classic served merely as a stepping-stone, but there’s little doubt Forever Young hadn’t yet peaked in November. The Saudi Cup showed the colt at his best. Romantic Warrior, perhaps the “best” horse in the world, swooped to the lead before the head of the homestretch, briefly leaving Forever Young in his wake. Undaunted, Sakai and Forever Young switched off the fence, regained momentum, and reeled in Romantic Warrior at the wire. More than 10 lengths back in third came Ushba Tesoro, a high-level performer who had run to form.
Forever Young better suits the two-turn Dubai World Cup than he did the one-turn, 1,800-meter Saudi Cup. The BC Classic in November at Del Mar stands as Forever Young’s next major goal. A summer respite looms for a horse who might soon, without hesitation, be called great. Forever Young can lay it all on the line Saturday night. Even if it’s a one-horse race, he might put on a show.
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