Forever Young is the favorite in Saturday’s $7 million showdown at Keeneland, where eight horses have enough accomplishments among them to fill a racing museum.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WDRB+WAVE) — They have two Kentucky Derby winners entered in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland. Neither is favored.
That ought to tell you something about the company they’re keeping.
They have a horse from Japan who has earned more than $32 million. They have a Dubai World Cup winner who has beaten the two favorites. They have the reigning American Horse of the Year, the reigning Japanese Horse of the Year, a Preakness winner and a trainer trying to win a race her profession has allowed a woman to win exactly once in 42 previous attempts.
They have eight horses entered in the $7 million race. You could make a pretty good argument for six of them. You could make a pretty good living owning any one of them.
Forever Young, the Japanese superstar who won last year’s Classic at Del Mar, drew post position No. 5 and was installed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite.
The 5-year-old has raced 16 times, won 12 and never finished worse than third. He has earned more than $32 million, which works out to about $2 million every time somebody takes him to the gate.
Most horses would have retired to a life of leisure and expensive romance by now. Forever Young is still punching the clock.
He is trying to become just the second horse to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic twice. Tiznow did it in 2000 and 2001. Nobody has done it since.
And nobody is going to hand it to him.
Sovereignty, the 2025 Kentucky Derby winner and reigning American Horse of the Year, drew post 2 and was made the 5-2 second choice. Golden Tempo, who won this year’s Derby and Belmont Stakes, drew post 3 and is listed at 5-1.
The last time two Kentucky Derby winners met in a race was the 1991 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. Unbridled and Strike the Gold showed up. Black Tie Affair beat them both.
There is a lesson in there somewhere.
Sovereignty was supposed to meet Forever Young in last year’s Classic. He got sick and scratched. He was supposed to meet him again in September. A foot abscess intervened.
For a horse named Sovereignty, he has had a difficult time exercising authority over his own schedule.
His owner, Godolphin, could have sent him off to stud after a brilliant 3-year-old campaign. Instead, it brought him back for another season, largely because there was one piece of hardware missing from the trophy case.
Godolphin has started 18 horses in the Classic. None has won.
Trainer Bill Mott has won it twice, with Cigar and Drosselmeyer, and is bringing two horses this time. Besides Sovereignty, he has Knightsbridge, winner of the Pacific Classic, who drew post 7 and is 9-2.
Knightsbridge could have been a favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Godolphin decided it would rather take two shots at the Classic.
When you have spent decades trying to win something, subtlety tends to lose its appeal.
Then there’s Golden Tempo.
Cherie DeVaux brought him to Churchill Downs in May and won the Kentucky Derby. She took him to Saratoga and won the Belmont Stakes. He finished third in the Travers, which constitutes something of a disappointment only because he has never finished worse than third in his life.
Now she is asking him to beat the best older horses in the world.
How confident is she?
“Ultra-confident,” DeVaux said Monday.
That’s a useful thing to be when you’re taking a 3-year-old into a race against horses who have spent the past couple of years collecting trophies on three continents.
DeVaux could become just the second woman to train a Classic winner. Kathy Ritvo was the first, with Mucho Macho Man in 2013.
Golden Tempo has made a habit of arriving late and leaving with the money. He came from far back to win the Derby, then showed in the Belmont that he could make his move earlier and still finish.
He might get some help Saturday.
Magnitude, Napoleon Solo and Knightsbridge all have early speed. If they decide to settle their differences in the opening half-mile, Golden Tempo and some of the other closers could have a very pleasant afternoon.
Of course, Magnitude may have something to say about that.
He won the Dubai World Cup in March, beating Forever Young. He won the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs, beating Sovereignty. He is 6-1 on the morning line.
There aren’t many races where you can beat the two favorites and still be treated like a supporting actor.
Magnitude drew post 6. Flavien Prat will ride him for Steve Asmussen.
Preakness winner Napoleon Solo drew the outside post and is 15-1. The Puma, winner of the Pennsylvania Derby, is 10-1. Japan’s T O Password, fifth in the 2024 Kentucky Derby, drew the rail at 30-1.
Somebody has to be the long shot. It doesn’t mean he has to like it.
The race will be run at 1¼ miles, with a scheduled post time of 6:16 p.m. Saturday. NBC and Peacock will carry it.
There will be plenty of talk between now and then about pace, post positions, speed figures and whether the 3-year-olds are good enough to beat their elders.
There will be questions about Sovereignty’s foot, Golden Tempo’s maturity and whether Forever Young can keep doing what he has done in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and the United States.
And somewhere in all of it is a reminder of why they run these races instead of just handing out trophies according to the morning line.
Two Kentucky Derby winners will go into the starting gate Saturday. Neither is favored.
One of them might win anyway.