Forever Young weighs turf or dirt finale before Japan retirement

The last chapter of Forever Young’s career now has two very different exits, and Susumu Fujita will have to choose whether the Japanese star ends his run on turf or on the dirt where he made his name. One route sends him from Leopardstown to ParisLongchamp. The other runs through Belmont Park and ends at Keeneland in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the race that already made him a global headline.

The turf option would start in the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday, September 12, 2026, part of the Irish Champions Festival. From there, Forever Young would point to the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp on Sunday, October 4, 2026. That path would be the more audacious choice: a dirt specialist stretching into two of Europe’s biggest autumn prizes, trying to add a turf statement to a résumé already built on the highest level in Japan, Riyadh and North America.

The dirt route is the more direct blockbuster. It would send him to the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on Friday, September 18, 2026, then to the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on October 30-31. The Classic is run at 1 1/4 miles on dirt and is limited to 14 starters, which makes every berth matter and every draw feel like a fight. If Fujita wants one last American stage, this is the route that still carries the most heat.

Forever Young has already earned the right to choose the ending. He was named Japan’s Horse of the Year for 2025, becoming the first dirt horse to win that award, and he took 226 of 248 votes. He also captured the JRA Best Older Horse and Best Dirt Horse honors after victories in the Saudi Cup and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. At Del Mar, he became the first Japanese-trained horse to win the Classic, adding an Eclipse Award for older dirt male and becoming only the second Japanese-based horse to land one.

His record, 12 wins from 14 starts, already reads like a finished chapter. But with a 2024 Kentucky Derby third and another third in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic behind him, the choice now is whether his final run becomes a turf experiment or one more dirt dynasty. For racing, the bigger closing act is still the dirt path, because another shot at the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Breeders’ Cup Classic would give Forever Young the clearest chance at one last true marquee campaign before he goes home to Japan.