Forever Young leads strong seven-horse Japanese challenge for Arc de Triomphe

Seven Japanese horses are in the picture for the 2026 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, a bloc that makes this Japan’s deepest and most credible assault yet on Europe’s premier turf prize. France Galop closed entries on Wednesday, May 20 at 10:30 a.m. Paris time with 73 nominations for the Group 1 on Sunday, October 4 at ParisLongchamp, down from 78 a year earlier, and Japan’s seven runners account for nearly 10 percent of the list. Last year’s winner Daryz, runner-up Minnie Hauk and third-placed Sosie were also re-entered, ensuring the Arc will again bring together proven European class and a formidable Asian challenge.

Forever Young is the name that gives the Japanese entry real headline force. Trained by Yoshito Yahagi for Susumu Fujita, he won the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar and became the first Japanese-trained horse to win that race, adding to back-to-back Saudi Cups and career earnings that France Galop says now exceed USD20 million. His third in the 2024 Kentucky Derby still matters, too, because it showed this horse could travel, adapt and fire on the biggest stages far from home.

On paper, Forever Young, Shin Emperor and Byzantine Dream look like the clearest win candidates. Shin Emperor, also connected to Fujita and Yahagi, was bred in Normandy by Haras des Monceaux and already has Arc experience after running in the 2024 renewal. Byzantine Dream won the 2025 Prix Foy before finishing fifth in last year’s Arc, while Alohi Alii won the 2025 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano at Deauville and also took his shot at Longchamp in 2025. Meisho Tabaru and Admire Terra look more like tactical influences, horses capable of shaping the pace and forcing the Europeans to react rather than merely following along.

Meisho Tabaru, a son of Gold Ship, arrived with the cachet of winning the 2025 Takarazuka Kinen, Japan’s spring fan-vote race, and Gold Ship himself ran in the 2014 Arc. Admire Terra was third in the 2026 Osaka Hai and comes from Yasuo Tomomichi, a trainer who has already saddled Makahiki and Do Deuce in Arc renewals. The longshot is Juryoku Pierrot, a three-year-old filly by Orfevre, the horse who finished second in the Arc in both 2012 and 2013. She is scheduled for the Yushun Himba on Sunday, May 25, and will be ridden by 22-year-old Seina Imamura.

Japan is still waiting for its first Arc victory, a drought made heavier by the near-misses of El Condor Pasa, Nakayama Festa and Orfevre. If one of these seven finally breaks through at ParisLongchamp, it would do more than end a long pursuit. It would reset the balance of turf power, proving that Japan’s breeding, investment and international campaigning can now threaten the European center of gravity on its own ground.