2023: Two-year-old season Forever Young began his racing career in a contest for previously unraced juveniles over 1,800 metres on good ground at
Kyoto Racecourse on October 14, 2023. Ridden by
Ryusei Sakai, he started the
16/5 second choice and won by four lengths. Sakai was again in the saddle when the colt was stepped up in domestic Group 3 class to contest the over the same distance at in the following month on November 3, 2023. He started the 6/5 favourite and prevailed by one-and-a-half lengths. On December 13 at
Kawasaki Racecourse, Forever Young stepped up to Domestic Group 1 class to contest
Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun over 1,600 metres. He started the 11/10 favourite in the betting and won by seven lengths from . This is the first time Fujita had a horse that won a Group 1 race. For his performance in 2023, he received a rating of 113 from , which is the highest rating of two-year-old dirt racing horses in the history of the ranking system. Among the five two-year-olds with a rating of 113 or above,
Shin Emperor, whose rating was 113,
2024: Three-year-old season On his first run as a three-year-old, Forever Young went to Saudi Arabia to run in the Group III
Saudi Derby over 1,600 metres on February 24, 2024. He started the 8/13 odds-on favourite with British
bookmakers and won by only a nose. In the race, he had a rough start and had to make up for the four-to-five-length difference from the leading horse, Book'em Danno, in the middle of the final straight. He finished the race in 1:36.17, about two seconds faster than the track record for the distance. This is the first time a horse of Fujita won an overseas graded race. After the race, his trainer, Yahagi, said the next race would be the
UAE Derby to obtain
Kentucky Derby points for taking part in the
Kentucky Derby. By February, he ranked second on
Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, trailing behind , the winner of the
Hyacinth Stakes. On March 30, Forever Young ran in the 1,900-meter Group II
UAE Derby held at
Meydan Racecourse dirt in
Dubai, with jockey Ryusei Sakai. Forever Young was assigned to the outside, in gate 11. He came out of the gate well, took a position outside and behind the leaders. Moving into the stretch, the field straightened. South American Auto Bahn went to the front but could not withstand Forever Young, who came up strongly to win by two lengths in a time of 1:57.89. Trainer Yahagi commented after the race, "It will be very difficult to go from Dubai to Kentucky. But I believe my team will do everything to be in good order to go to Kentucky." Jockey Sakai also added that Forever Young "very much improved" after the Saudi Derby, adding, "That's why I have confidence in him. I really trust this horse." Forever Young collected 100 qualification points in the
Road to the Kentucky Derby and entered the event undefeated. In the early morning hours of April 13, Forever Young arrived at
Churchill Downs, having been conditioned by Yahagi. The following morning rider Yusaku Oka took the colt out for about 20 minutes of jogging in the course's one-mile chute, followed by a -mile gallop. The following month, on May 4, Forever Young raced the
150th Kentucky Derby where the horse was placed in the rear of the pack after a relatively bad start. Just before the 3rd corner the horse started to move in from the outside, eventually catching up with front runner
Mystik Dan on the final stretch together with
Sierra Leone, resulting in a three way
photo finish where the horse was declared to have finished third behind the two horses by a nose and head. Forever Young was returned to Japan following the race, and after quarantine and recuperating at Northern Farm Hayakita, the horse was entered in to the
Japan Dirt Classic held at
Ohi Racecourse on October 2, which was the final leg of the Japanese Dirt Triple Crown. The horse briefly tripped after leaving the starting the gate but managed to place itself in the middle of the pack. The horse gradually pushed its position up after the 3rd corner, taking over the lead as the pack was entering the final stretch, finishing the race at first place, and earning his 2nd Jpn-1 title. Following the Japan Dirt Classic, Forever Young was sent to the United States once again, this time to contest the
Breeders' Cup Classic. However, he finished third behind Sierra Leone. After the Breeders' Cup, Forever Young returned to Japan to contest the
Tokyo Daishōten for his final race of the season. At that race, Forever Young ran second for most of the race, before quickly taking the lead on the stretch and holding off the lead even as and closed in; earning his first Grade I title and finishing the season undefeated in Japan. Following his performance, Forever Young was awarded the
JRA Special Award for that year. Forever Young also received 103 votes for being named the
Best Three-Year-Old Colt that year, but lost out to
Japanese Derby winner
Danon Decile by 41 votes, and also received the second most votes for
Best Dirt Horse and
Japanese Horse of the Year.
2025: Four-year old season Forever Young received invitation for both the
Saudi Cup and the
Dubai World Cup, both of which were accepted. On February 22, the Saudi Cup was held, where the horse ran around 2nd or 3rd of the pack for most of the race. At the final stretch,
Romantic Warrior briefly took the lead from Forever Young, before Forever Young regained the lead in what effectively became a match race between the two. The race ended with Forever Young beating Romantic Warrior by a neck, earning him his fourth Grade 1 title, and his first Grade 1 title outside Japan. The horse also became the third richest horse in JRA history, after adding the US$10 million prize money. This was their first Grade I victory abroad for both Forever Young's jockey, Sakai, and owner, Susumu Fujita. It also made Forever Young's trainer,
Yoshito Yahagi, the first trainer ever to win the Saudi Cup twice after he won the race with
Panthalassa in 2023, and was his 16th graded race win abroad, including 9 Grade I races. After the Saudi Cup, the horse was immediately sent to Dubai in preparation for the Dubai World Cup, together with Shin Emperor who won the
Neom Turf Cup that same day and was scheduled to run the
Dubai Sheema Classic. In November, Forever Young returned to America for a second attempt at the
Breeders' Cup Classic. He was second favorite of those taking the start after pre-race favorite
Sovereignty was scratched days before the race. This time, Forever Young took victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic, holding off the previous year's winner
Sierra Leone by length. Forever Young became only the fifth foreign-foaled horse to win the Breeders' Cup Classic, and the first from Japan. Following the Breeders' Cup Classic, trainer Yoshito Yahagi said that he was planning to keep Forever Young in training for a five-year-old campaign, with the goal of returning to the Middle East to defend his title in the Saudi Cup before heading to the Dubai World Cup. He added that he did not plan to run Forever Young before the Saudi Cup, because he didn't feel the horse needed a race. For his accomplishments during the 2025 racing season, Forever Young became the first dirt horse ever to be named the
JRA Horse of the Year. He also won the JRA awards for
Best Dirt Horse and
Best Older Male Horse. Forever Young held off Nysos under steady pressure from Ryusei Sakai to win by one length and become the first horse to win the Saudi Cup in consecutive years. Trainer Yoshito Yahagi said after the race that Forever Young would be pointed towards Dubai. "Of course, our next target is the
Dubai World Cup," he said, "so that is what we have to concentrate on now. And then, I have no idea." At the Dubai World Cup Forever Young ran second all the way around the track behind Magnitude, losing to the
Steve Asmussen-trained horse by one length. On April 25, the social media account for Yoshito Yahagi's stable on
X (formerly Twitter) posted that two options were being considered regarding Forever Young's future race schedule. The first would see him run in two dirt races in the United States: the
Jockey Club Gold Cup at
Belmont Park and the
Breeders' Cup Classic at
Keeneland. The second scenario would be for the horse to ship to Europe and run in the
Irish Champion Stakes at
Leopardstown and the
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at
Longchamp, both turf races. The announcement added that if Forever Young was still in good condition, they would try to run him once in Japan at the end of the year. ==Statistics==