DEL MAR, Calif — “I drank too much.” Ever the professional, even when feeling a little worse for wear, Yoshito Yahagi was at a 7.30 a.m. press call with his Breeders' Cup Classic winner Forever Young (Jpn). The latter was looking sparkier than his trainer, but then he hadn't been out late in a Mexican restaurant celebrating the LA Dodgers sealing back-to-back wins in the World Series.“I'm a bit hungover. The horse is in much better condition than me,” Yahagi admitted.An avowed fan of baseball, he unzipped his red Forever Young jacket to show his Dodgers t-shirt underneath, but the trainer's one regret was that the win of his team, which includes Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani, took a little of the gloss off the landmark win of his own equine superstar in the Thoroughbred World Championships.“Of course, I'm really happy the Dodgers won the World Series. But on the other side, I'm sad that the Dodgers took all the news headlines, as that's like stealing from our achievement,” he said.In this bubble of the racing world, however, all the plaudits are for Susumu Fujita's tough-as-teak 4-year-old, who scrimmaged his way to third-place finishes in last year's Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic before outgunning one of the world's best, Romantic Warrior (Ire), in February's Saudi Cup. That $20m contest is unsurprisingly on his agenda once more, with Yahagi advising that Forever Young will go straight to Riyadh without a prep run. “I think we will give him a little spell until the Saudi Cup,” he said. “Because we will try to have him in the best condition possible and he needs to recover physically. So we want to give him space to recover. “At the moment, we are already planning to go to the Saudi Cup and Dubai World Cup. We won't make any plans yet for after the Dubai World Cup. Of course, if he's fresh and he says yes, then we'll go forward after Dubai.”The trainer also dangled a tantalising carrot for race fans in Europe that Forever Young may yet be tried on grass.“If I select a turf race, I will try just one time,” he said. “So I have to select one race. Maybe the Arc, you never know.”Forever Young's old foes Sierra Leone, Fierceness and Mystik Dan are now all heading to the stallion yards of Ashford Stud and Airdrie Stud, and Yahagi said that connections would consider offers for his horse in time.As well as Forever Young's notable achievements on the track, he boasts a pedigree with broad international appeal. His sire Real Steel (Jpn), by Deep Impact (Jpn), is from the family of Miesque and is closely related to Study Of Man (Ire), who is carving out a successful stud career in Britain. Moreover, Forever Young is from the same family as his runner-up in the Classic, Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), with their respective dams Forever Darling (Congrats) and Heavenly Love (Malibu Moon) being half-sisters. “We are not ready yet,” he said of a stallion deal. “But we try to open the door for people from all over the world for the syndicate for Forever Young. So anyone interested, please knock on the door.” There is an extra sense of pride for Yahagi in having also trained the Dubai Turf winner Real Steel, who is a full-brother to his 2021 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Loves Only You (Jpn). That year he also sent out Marche Loraine (Jpn) (Orfrevre {Jpn}) to win the Distaff at Del Mar.“When I won here with Marche Loraine, I thought I had done something incredible,” Yahagi said. “But I was very sad that there wasn't much coverage in Japan. The difference between then and now is, with Forever Young winning the Classic, the whole of Japan, everyone is so happy. This is the difference between Marche Loraine's achievement and Forever Young's achievement. There is a big gap.”With career earnings in excess of $20m and Grade I wins in America and Saudi Arabia as well as his native Japan, Forever Young's popularity is spreading rapidly. He will surely now be a contender for Horse of the Year in America, even though he will leave the country on Monday.“His achievements, it's not for me as a trainer, it's for Forever Young. It's all him,” Yahagi said. “When I train the produce of horses I have trained, like Real Steel, Contrail, Mozu Ascot, and they win races it gives me the same special feeling as I have with Ryusei Sakai when he is riding winners. He's my stable jockey and now he has won the Breeders' Cup Classic. I have known him since he was a kid and when I look at how he has grown in confidence and his technique, that is what makes him a world-class jockey right now.”Yahagi attributes Forever Young's improved performance at this year's Breeders' Cup to the fact that Real Steel's offspring are “late-developing horses”. He said, “This year the biggest change in Forever Young is physical, and also his recovery. It's amazing how he has recovered in himself already. Physically, he's really built up and now we feel that he can compete with American horses.”Compete he did, on a dramatic afternoon which those of us watching won't forget in a hurry. The post ‘The Horse is in Much Better Condition Than Me’: Yoshito Yahagi on a Wild Night of Celebrations for Forever Young and the LA Dodgers appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.