DEL MAR, Calif., Nov. 1 (UPI) — Forever Young flew all the way from Japan to seek revenge in Saturday’s $7 million Grade I Breeders’s Cup Classic — and got it.
The 4-year-old, third in last year’s Kentucky Derby and third again in last year’s Classic, seized the lead turning for home this time around, opened a big advantage and held off last year’s winner, Sierra Leone, winning by 1/2 length.
Revenge was sweet.
“It is my dream to beat these horses,” beaming trainer Yoshito Yahagi said. “Also, Fierceness and Sierra Leone will be retired. So this [was] the last chance against these two guys together.”
The Classic was the highlight of Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup dirt racing and also a race for the ages.
The field included all of last year’s top three finishers with 2024 runner-up Fierceness this year reporting third. Also in the gate were the second- and third-place finishers from the Kentucky Derby, Journalism, who finished fourth, and Baez, sixth.
All that was lacking was Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty, who was scratched earlier in the week with an infection.
Forever Young’s third in the 2024 Kentucky Derby, in a dramatic three-way photo, was impacted by repeated bumping by Sierra Leone, who finished second that day. In the Classic, he was compromised by the inside post position.
Jockey Ryusei Sakai, starting Forever Young from the No. 5 gate this time, left no doubt and allowed little room for mishap. Keeping his colt clear of traffic just behind the early leaders, he found plenty in reserve when he called on him in the turn.
Yahagi and owner Susumu Fujita have indicated the colt will have a shot at winning the $20 million Group 1 Saudi Cup for the second year in a row.
If so, he might be rematched there with another horse seeking revenge — Hong Kong’s Romantic Warrior, who finished second in this year’s Cup. And, with revenge on the menu, Yahagi said the 2026 Dubai World Cup also is a possibility. Forever Young finished third there this April.
Asked if the colt, a son of Real Steel, might stay in training for the 2026 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., Yahagi smiled and said, “Keeneland has really chilly weather. So let me think about that.”
Also Saturday on Del Mar’s main track:
$2 million Longines Distaff
Scylla dueled to the lead heading into the first turn in the Distaff, shook off a challenge nearing the second turn and dominated through the stretch en route to a 5 1/2-length victory.
Nitrogen, the only serious challenger, held on for second, with long shot Regaled third.
Scylla, a Juddmonte Farms homebred with a purely blueblood pedigree, ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.07 under Junior Alvarado after setting a demanding early pace.
The 5-year-old had not won a race in eight previous starts dating back 14 months and had never won a Grade I, but usually was in the mix in some of the most prestigious filly and mare races.
The Bill Mott trainee was last seen finishing third in the Grade I Spinster at Keeneland on Oct. 5, behind Gin Gin, who finished last Saturday, and Nitrogen.
Mott said the plan was not to go to the lead.
“But she broke really well and Junior made the decision not to wrestle with her and wrangle her back. Obviously, the right decision,” he said.
“She can get a little upset if you try to make her do something,” Alvarado added.
$2 million Cygames Sprint
Bentornato came out running in the 6-furlong sprint and gave the rest of the field the slip in the stretch run, winning by 2 1/4 lengths without being asked for his best by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. The 4-year-old son of Valient Minister reported in 1:08.20 after setting a brisk early pace.
Bentornato, trained by Jose D’Angelo, finished second in the 2024 Sprint over the same course, edged in the late going by Straight No Chaser, who finished seventh Saturday. He was idle for more than 10 months after that, returning with a 5 1/4-length score in the Louisville Thoroughbred Society Stakes at Churchill Downs on Sept. 13.
$1 million PNC Bank Filly & Mare Sprint
Splendora found another gear in the stretch run of the Filly & Mare Sprint and ran off to win by 4 3/4 lengths. Vahva collared Hope Road in the late going to finish second.
A 4-year-old daughter of Audible, Splendora finished 7 furlongs in 1:21.79, scoring her third straight win and first in a Grade I race.
Splendora was one of three trained by Bob Baffert in a scratch-shorted field of seven. He also handles Hope Road, who was the nearly even-money favorite in the race, and Chilean-bred Richi, who got home fifth.
$1 million Dirt Mile
Baffert had another moment in the sun in the day’s penultimate race, as the odds-on favorite, Nysos, and 2024 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile champion Citizen Bull neared the finish of the Dirt Mile racing neck to neck.
He trains both of them and would have smiled either way although Nysos’ victory, the sixth from seven starts for the Nyquist colt, makes him one of the stars of his stable.
The Baffert pair were well in front of Chancer McPatrick in third. The field was shortened by the mid-week scratch of 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and the scratch just before the start of 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner White Abarrio.
Baffert’s victory, second in this year’s Breeders’ Cup races, boosted him into a tie with Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien for the most in the World Championships with 21. O’Brien had bypassed the late D. Wayne Lukas a day earlier.
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