For the first time since the 3-year-old gelding Bold Honor broke his maiden for a $20,000 tag on July 9, 2023–for those of you counting, that is a stretch of 1,166 days–Thoroughbreds will take to the track under race conditions at the newly renovated and state-of-the-art Belmont Park, which plays host to a nine-race program Friday afternoon.As a special 'welcome back' to the track, Friday's purse money is just shy of $2.2 million, with three maiden races each offering $150,000, four allowances worth anywhere from $157,500 to $162,000 and a starter-allowance, where they'll be running for $112,500. Bar the first contest on re-opening day, which is set to jump at 1:30 p.m. ET, and not including the afternoon's focal point, each race has attracted overflow fields.Right in the middle of the card, with post time set for 4:14 p.m., is the $1-million GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, a 'Win and You're In' challenge race for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic 43 days and several hundred miles down the road at Keeneland. The 10-furlong feature returns to Belmont for the first time since Max Player (Honor Code) prevailed in 2021. The last four renewals were held at Saratoga–the now-retired Antiquarian (Preservationist) won a messy Jockey Club Gold Cup at the Spa last year. The five most recent editions of the Gold Cup have been won by 4-year-olds.A field of seven was drawn last weekend, but a maximum of five will enter the gate Friday afternoon, as Chunk of Gold (Preservationist) and Banishing (Ghostzapper) will be pointed for targets at Churchill Downs later this month.What better way to christen the new Belmont than to have the presence of America's champion older dirt male and Japan's Horse of the Year Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) on site? The 5-year-old son of GSW Forever Darling (Congrats) will be making the 16th start of his remarkable career on Friday and makes his fourth appearance on these shores, having finished that luckless third in the 2024 GI Kentucky Derby and third in that year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic before making history when defeating his close relative on his female side, Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), at Del Mar last November.After becoming the first two-time winner of the G1 Saudi Cup, defeating a very game 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Nysos (Nyquist) on Valentine's Day, the $720,000 JRHA Select Yearling purchase couldn't quite double up in the desert, falling victim to a front-running display from Magnitude (Not This Time) in the G1 Dubai World Cup Mar. 28 while matching his Timeform Rating of 124. His TF when third in the 2025 World Cup was just 119.The recipient of time off, with no suitable races at home in the often-hot Japanese summertime, Forever Young kicks off what is likely the final three-race stretch of his career in a race won by the likes of Kelso, Damascus and Affirmed, John Henry and Easy Goer, Cigar and Curlin, to name just a few.“I am delighted to be able to compete in the United States again with Forever Young, following our participation over the past two years,” said effervescent trainer Yoshito Yahagi, who has split time between Long Island and the Keeneland September Sale. “It is also a great honor to run in New York at this very memorable time, coinciding with the reopening of the historic Belmont Park racetrack. Through these two races, the Jockey Gold Cup and the Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland, I hope to contribute to the further development of American horse racing.“I express my sincere gratitude for the support of so many people, and the entire stable will work together to help Forever Young achieve good results,” Yahagi added.Forever Young capped off his serious training with a piece of fast work over the Belmont main track on Sept. 15, charging his last three furlongs in just over :34 seconds and looking every bit ready to get back to work. His fresh-up record is an impeccable five-from-five and he is likely to come on for whatever he does in the Gold Cup. Still, it'll take a mighty effort from one of the understudies to upset the apple cart.Despite the absence of champion Sovereignty (Into Mischief), four-time Gold Cup-winning trainer Bill Mott supplies half of Forever Young's remaining competition on Friday. Clearly the classier of the two is C R K Stables' Baeza (McKinzie), who gets the blinkers off and Junior Alvarado on.The $1.2-million Keeneland September purchase is winless in four starts since his career high achievement in last year's GI Pennsylvania Derby, though his slow-starting second to Magnitude in the GI Stephen Foster Stakes two back (112 Beyer) would make him dangerous here. That being said, he was a disappointing fourth to Sovereignty last time in the Aug. 8 GI Whitney Stakes where the race flow was very much in his favor. The trip doesn't hurt either, but he needs to show a bit more of a killer instinct. Stars and Stripes (Not This Time) was only eighth in the GII Suburban Stakes July 4 and cuts back from 14 to 10 panels off his defeat of stablemate Parchment Party (Constitution) in the Aug. 13 Birdstone Stakes at Saratoga.The scratching of Chunk of Gold makes Phileas Fogg (Astern {Aus}) that much more interesting here. The 6-year-old is three-for-five at the distance and most recently treated his 10 rivals to a 10-length beating from the front in defense of his title in the Suburban. In fairness, he got away with very cheap sections beneath Kendrick Carmouche and a certain Forever Young won't be too far away in the run here, regardless of how fast or slow they go up front.The Gold Cup field is completed by Render Judgment (Blame), who appears to be totally overmatched. FOREVER YOUNG and SHIN EMPEROR are exploring the new @BelmontPark1905 paddock this morning! pic.twitter.com/FJ8B0xbg3Z— NYRA () (@TheNYRA) September 16, 2026The post Champion Forever Young Ushers In New Era at Belmont Park appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.