Saudi Cup

Yoshito Yahagi has won three of the seven runnings of the Saudi Cup, more than any other trainer. The Japanese trainer struck first in 2023 with Panthalassa, ridden by jockey Yutaka Yoshida. Forever Young then gave him back-to-back victories in 2025 and 2026, both under Ryusei Sakai, the only jockey so far to win the race twice. No other trainer has won the race more than once since its first running at Riyadh in 2020.

Forever Young is the only horse to have won the Saudi Cup twice. In 2025 he beat Romantic Warrior by a neck in 1:49.099, still the fastest time in the race's history. He defended his title on 14 February 2026, holding off the American runner Nysos by a length, with Tumbarumba third. Between those two wins the Japanese horse, trained by Yoshito Yahagi, also took the 2025 Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar in California.

The Saudi Cup has been run for a $20 million purse at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh since its first edition in 2020, and is billed by organisers as the world's most valuable race. Run over 1,800 metres on the dirt track, it is worth $8 million more than the Dubai World Cup, staged four weeks later at Meydan in Dubai. The 2026 meeting offered almost $40 million in prize money across two days of top-class racing.