million. And he had unfinished business at Meydan Racecourse, where a third-place finish in the 2025 Dubai World Cup remains the only blemish on a campaign that has taken him from Riyadh to Del Mar to the summit of the sport.
On Saturday, five days from now, Forever Young will line up as the favourite in the $12 million Dubai World Cup, the centrepiece of a nine-race card worth $30.5 million. It is the 30th running of the race that transformed Dubai into one of horse racing's global capitals, and the field assembled at Meydan reflects both the event's enduring prestige and the determination of connections from four continents to be part of it.
The Dubai World Cup was first run on the dirt at Nad Al Sheba in 1996, when the American champion Cigar, trained by William Mott, won the inaugural edition and announced to the racing world that something extraordinary was being built in the desert. Thirty years later, the event has moved to the architectural spectacle of Meydan, where a grandstand stretching 1.6 kilometres can accommodate more than 60,000 spectators, and the prize purse across six Group 1 and three Group 2 races has reached $30.5 million. The feature race alone offers more prize money than most entire race meetings anywhere on earth.
Forever Young's path to Meydan this year has been a masterclass in global campaign management. After winning the Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar in November, becoming the first Japanese-trained horse to claim that title in the event's 42-year history, he was honoured as JRA Horse of the Year in Japan and received the Eclipse Award for champion older dirt male in North America.
Yahagi, known across the sport as "the Man in the Hat," then mapped out a route through the Saudi Cup on February 14 before shipping directly to Dubai. Forever Young won in Riyadh by a length from Bob Baffert's Nysos, sitting behind the pace before Sakai slipped him through an opening along the rail in the home straight. It was controlled, clinical, and utterly characteristic of a horse who has made the Middle East's richest dirt races his personal territory.
"He's an amazing horse," Sakai said after the Saudi Cup. "Two times in the Saudi Cup, and I just trust him. I had no worries, there was no pressure. This is my job, the same every time." That trust will be tested again on Saturday. Yahagi has spoken of his determination to improve on the 2025 Dubai World Cup result, where he attributed the defeat to pre-race disruption in the test barn that unsettled both the horse and his groom.
The confirmed field of nine for the feature race offers genuine international depth. Defending champion Hit Show, trained by Brad Cox, returns seeking back-to-back victories after winning the Group 3 Mineshaft Stakes at Fair Grounds in February. Americans finished first and second in the 2025 Dubai World Cup, and Hit Show's presence ensures the United States retains a strong hand alongside Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen's Magnitude, who defeated Hit Show by half a length in the Clark Stakes last November.
The locally trained contingent is formidable. Meydaan arrives at the feature race in peak form after winning the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge on Super Saturday at Meydan on February 28. Walk of Stars, trained by Bhupat Seemar, finished second in the Maktoum Classic, a key trial. Seemar also saddles Imperial Emperor. Jamie Osborne sends Heart Of Honor from Britain, while Hamad Al Jehani's Tumbarumba, third behind Forever Young in the Saudi Cup, completes the cast alongside Doug Watson's Tap Leader.
Beyond the headline race, the supporting card carries its own star power. Calandagan, officially rated the best racehorse in the world, has been cleared by the Aga Khan Studs to run in the $6 million Dubai Sheema Classic. The Francis-Henri Graffard-trained four-year-old was European Horse of the Year in 2025, and his presence at Meydan on turf adds a layer of quality that few race meetings anywhere can match. The Godolphin Mile, the Al Quoz Sprint, and the Dubai Turf round out a programme that spans dirt and turf, sprints and middle distances, and attracts the best horses from Japan, Europe, the Americas, and the Gulf.
Some international connections have adjusted their travel plans in recent weeks, with a handful of Japanese runners and European-trained horses opting not to ship. But the core field is deep and competitive, and the horses who are here have been preparing with intent. Forever Young and his stablemate American Stage have been doing light work at Meydan since mid-February. Hit Show shipped from the United States with purpose. Calandagan's arrival was confirmed by the Aga Khan's racing operation as recently as last week. Irish trainer Joseph O'Brien, who sent Aeronautic home after racing at Meydan earlier this month, is still weighing whether to reship Al Riffa and Sons And Lovers for the Sheema Classic and other supporting races, with a decision expected in the coming days.
Dubai Racing Club has been unequivocal. "The 30th Dubai World Cup will take place as scheduled at Meydan Racecourse on Saturday, 28 March 2026," the club stated. "Preparations continue as planned and we look forward to welcoming guests and the racing community for the event." Racing at Meydan has continued throughout the Carnival season, and the infrastructure that makes this event possible, the veterinary facilities, the quarantine barns, the world-class track surfaces, remains as it has been for the past 16 years since the racecourse opened.
The 30th running carries a weight of history that extends beyond any single horse. Since Cigar crossed the line first in 1996, the Dubai World Cup has produced moments that defined eras. Arrogate's impossible last-to-first victory in 2017 remains one of the most extraordinary finishes in racing history. Japan celebrated its first winner through Victoire Pisa in 2011. Gloria de Campea became the first Brazilian-bred champion in 2010, the year Meydan opened its doors. Godolphin, the operation founded by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who created the race itself, has won it on multiple occasions. The roll call of champions reflects the truly global nature of an event that has spent three decades proving that the desert can host world-class sport at the highest level.
Forever Young's story fits perfectly into that tradition. A horse bred in Japan, campaigned across three continents, who has already won Saudi Arabia's richest race twice and North America's most prestigious dirt championship, now seeks to add Dubai's crown jewel to a resume that may already be the finest of his generation. If he wins on Saturday, he will complete a Saudi Cup to Dubai World Cup double that eluded him last year, and he will do so at a venue that has hosted the world's best racehorses every March for 30 years.
Meydan on Dubai World Cup night is unlike any other setting in the sport. The floodlit grandstand, the dirt track glowing under artificial light, the mix of local racing enthusiasts and international visitors, Jason Derulo headlining the after-party: it is sport as spectacle, and spectacle done with the kind of ambition that has defined Dubai's approach to major events for decades.
On Saturday, under those lights, Forever Young will break from the gate, and the 30th chapter of one of racing's greatest stories will be written.