Racing
Forever Young racing for riches and records in the Saudi Cup on Saturday night
Japanese champion Forever Young will move ever closer to Hong Kong superstar Romantic Warrior’s world prizemoney record with a successful defence of his $US20 million Saudi Cup (1800m) title at Riyadh’s King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
Forever Young, winner of the coveted Saudi Cup-US Breeders Cup Classic double last year, has already amassed $US19.4 million prizemoney from his 10 wins (and three placings) in just 13 starts.
This places Forever Young fourth on world racing's all-time prizemoney list that has Romantic Warrior on top with a staggering $US31.8 million.
To put these prizemoney tallies into some perspective, mighty mare Winx earned $US19.04 million ($A26.4 million) during her phenomenal career that ended with 33 consecutive wins including a world record 25 at Group 1 level.
But prizemoney records simply don't stand the test of time given inflation and other inevitable economic pressures which only makes it more extraordinary that two of the top four on the all-time list, Forever Young and Romantic Warrior, are racing in the same era.
In fact, Forever Young's epic effort to run down Romantic Warrior in a stirring showdown for the 2025 Saudi Cup was one of the great races.
But the Saudi Cup was ranked "only" the 16th best race in the world last year although it was number one in its distance range.
However, when Forever Young created history by becoming the first Japanese-trained winner of the US Breeders Cup Classic, it was the highest rated dirt race and third overall in the official Longines Worlds' Best Races of 2025.
And if Forever Young can create another significant piece of racing history by becoming the first horse to win successive Saudi Cups and collect a cool $US10 million in the process – and he won't have Romantic Warrior to worry about this year – he will vault into second placing behind Romantic Warrior in the world prizemoney rankings.
There is also an argument to suggest Forever Young was the best racehorse in the world last year but his official handicap rating of 128 left him equal second behind France's Calandagan on 130.
Calandagan did have an outstanding 2025 winning four times at Group 1 level in the Grand Prix de Saint Cloud, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Champion Stakes at Ascot and Japan Cup.
But Forever Young can begin his quest to finally earn world racing's number one ranking honour and move to within striking distance of Romantic Warrior's prizemoney record with another Saudi Cup win.
The Saudi Cup, the richest thoroughbred race in the world, was first run only seven years ago and Forever Young's trainer Yoshito Yahagi is attempting to win the race for a third time having also been successful with Panthalassa in 2023.
Forever Young obviously feels very much at home in Riyadh as this is his third appearance at the Saudi Cup meeting having also won the 2024 Saudi Derby.
#Calandagan's wins in the Champions Stakes and Japan Cup were so outstanding, it elevated those races to an official 126.25 rating each and both shared the number one race ranking last year.
Forever Young's US Breeders Cup Classic win also helped elevate that race's rating to 125.5 and third on the rankings.
Hong Kong's freakish sprinter Ka Ying Rising was rated alongside Forever Young on a 128 rating to be equal second on the world racehorse rankings. Among Ka Ying Rising's wins last year was The Everest at Royal Randwick, earning that race a 121 rating to be top of the sprint category.
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