Three days after Japanese baseball gamers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani celebrated victory within the World Sequence as members of the Los Angeles Dodgers, extra Japanese stars—these of the equine selection—search to win North America’s richest horse race, the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Basic (G1).
Although all three—Derma Sotogake , Ushba Tesoro , and Eternally Younger —are thought to be threats within the Nov. 2 race at Del Mar, Susumu Fujita’s 3-year-old Eternally Younger is the headliner. Early this Might, he got here inside inches of profitable a roughly contested Kentucky Derby (G1) when crushed two noses.
His shut end got here regardless of tough therapy from one among his equine rivals, runner-up Sierra Leone —bumping that stewards Brooks Becraft, Tyler Picklesimer, and Barbara Borden didn’t assessment with a proper stewards inquiry. Eternally Younger’s jockey Ryusei Sakai additionally didn’t declare foul, as two riders did within the 2019 Kentucky Derby, which initiated a assessment that led that yr to the disqualification of Most Safety for interference.
This yr, days after hundreds of thousands of {dollars} of wagers had been settled when the race was declared official, the stewards fined Sierra Leone’s jockey, Tyler Gaffalione, $2,500 for making contact with Eternally Younger together with his arm nearing the wire as Gaffalione tried to appropriate his mount as he lugged in.
Even when the stewards had made a disqualification within the Kentucky Derby, Eternally Younger would have at most been elevated to second, as victorious Mystik Dan was not concerned. Nonetheless, the secondary prizes had monetary penalties for bettors and individuals. Second place was price $1 million within the Derby, and third place was $500,000.
Regardless of the conclusion, Eternally Younger’s coach Yoshito Yahagi described a memorable expertise on the Kentucky Derby, carried out as typical earlier than a packed home at Churchill Downs, with 156,710 followers in attendance.
“The bumping, the fierce battle, shouldn’t be our problem,” Yahagi stated in feedback translated by Breeders’ Cup public relations consultant Mariko Seki and confirmed through on-line translating software program. “It was an important environment with nice folks and horses. It was a great expertise for Eternally Younger.”
Coach Yoshito Yahagi at Del Mar
Requested if he feels his colt would have received had the bumping not occurred, as some consider, he smiled and nodded.
The son of Actual Metal now will get a second crack at grade 1 success in America, this time in a race for 3-year-olds and upward.
Championships are probably on the road within the Basic, together with the Eclipse Award for North America’s champion 3-year-old male. Although Eternally Younger and fellow Basic participant Metropolis of Troy , the proficient Irish-based colt, should not primarily based in North America, both would undoubtedly garner help from many Eclipse voters with a Basic victory.
Eternally Younger faces 13 rivals, together with the Chad Brown-trained Sierra Leone, who may have Flavien Prat aboard, as he has been for his races since June. The latter, whose momentum probably was additionally slowed by the Derby contact, has been working straighter in current begins.
Yahagi famous that Eternally Younger’s preparation for the Basic differs. He received a prep race, the Japan Dust Basic, in his house nation after a protracted summer time freshening, in distinction to a extra lively schedule within the lead-up to the Run for the Roses. Earlier than the Derby, he had raced everywhere in the world, profitable all 5 of his previous races, together with the Saudi Derby (G3) and U.A.E. Derby (G2) within the Center East after starting his profession in Japan.
“He confirmed slightly weak point within the Kentucky Derby as a result of he ran in Saudi Arabia and Dubai,” Yahagi stated.
As attendees of the 2021 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar recall, Yahagi is expert at getting ready a horse for this two-day occasion. His two starters that yr, Loves Solely You and Marche Lorraine , had been respectively victorious within the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) and Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1).
Yahagi, identified for his headwear on race days, wore a colourful jacket the morning of Oct. 30 that commemorated these Breeders’ Cup wins. He would substitute that jacket the next day with a Los Angeles Dodgers jersey, proudly showcasing Yamamoto’s identify and quantity. Sakai wore an Ohtani jersey.
#ForeverYoung coach Yoshito Yahagi evidently happy with the World Sequence end result @BreedersCup pic.twitter.com/m6OkyUN1g5
— Byron King (@BH_BKing) October 31, 2024
Sakai should work out a positive journey from submit 1 inside all the opposite rivals. Following a straightforward five-furlong exercise from Eternally Younger in 1:04 at Del Mar Oct. 29, Sakai acknowledged in an interview posted by Breeders’ Cup on social media that he would have most popular drawing exterior.
This marks the 3-year-old’s second straight race with a begin from the within submit. Final out in the Oct. 2 Japan Dust Basic, he overcame stumbling on the break to stalk the tempo and rally to win by 1 1/4 lengths.
“We are able to think about race techniques with the connections, and we are going to convey his greatest efficiency,” Sakai stated in feedback translated by Seki.
