Forever Young hangs on from Sierra Leone

Forever Young: Entered at Royal Ascot

Strong overseas entry for Royal Ascot including Forever Young

Horse Racing

Tue April 28, 2026 · 1h ago

Five-time G1 winner Joliestar heads a team of Australian sprinters targeting Royal Ascot, with dirt champion Forever Young another eye-catching entry for the eight G1 highlights during the meeting.

In total, eight nations have potential representatives following today’s early closing entries, including leading lights from Europe, Japan and North America in addition to Australia.

Joliestar has compiled a first-class record Down Under for Chris Waller, with her G1 haul including the 2025 Newmarket Handicap at Flemington and this month’s TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick.

Australian luminaries Takeover Target, Miss Andretti, Scenic Blast and Black Caviar all won the Newmarket Handicap prior to Royal Ascot success, while the Waller-trained Nature Strip used the TJ Smith Stakes as a springboard to his King Charles III Stakes victory in 2022.

New Zealand-based Cambridge Stud, owner of Joliestar, is seeking a second win in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes, having co-owned Kevin Ryan’s 2022 scorer Hello Youmzain in partnership with Haras d’Etreham.

Henry Plumptre, CEO of Cambridge Stud, said: “Joliestar returned to Chris Waller Racing last Wednesday, following a two-week break at Hermitage Farm just outside Sydney. She had a week of paddock rest, then a week of steady cantering work up their hill, before finishing with a half-pace gallop.

“She will remain in Sydney until 20th May, when she will transfer to Melbourne for the flight to the UK on June 3rd. In Melbourne, I gather from Chris that she will have a five-furlong trial up the straight [at Flemington] a few days before she departs.

“While Joliestar won the Thousand Guineas over a mile, she is probably at her best around six or seven furlongs. Her current preparation in Sydney would be her best form to date and, barring a travel issue, she should arrive in the UK in great order to tackle the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.

“It is always a challenge to fly a horse halfway around the world for a race, but international travel is very advanced now. We are hoping all goes well and she arrives safely at Charlie Hills’ yard in Lambourn on the 4th June. We are all looking forward to it immensely!”

Joliestar is set to take on several stars from across the globe in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes, including last year’s one-two of Lazzat (Jerome Reynier) and Satono Reve (Noriyuki Hori).

Satono Reve recorded a second successive win in Chukyo’s G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen in March and chased home the indomitable Ka Ying Rising in the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize at Sha Tin last weekend.

The seven-year-old is joined in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes by the Haruki Sugiyama-trained Lugal, who captured the G1 Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama in 2024 and finished a neck second in Meydan’s G1 Al Quoz Sprint last time out.

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Sugiyama said: “I started thinking about the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes as the race for Lugal before he ran in Dubai. I thought, if he runs well in the Al Quoz Sprint over the six-furlong straight course at Meydan, the six furlongs at Ascot should be suitable.

“Following his run at Meydan, me and his owner Yoshimasa Ema agreed that his next start should be the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. I am very excited to have my first runner at Royal Ascot, while I am already becoming nervous as well.”

Other entries from Japan include G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic victor Forever Young, who has the option of a fascinating showdown with Daryz (Francis-Henri Graffard) and Ombudsman (John & Thady Gosden) in the G1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.

While Forever Young has won 11 of his 15 starts on dirt for Yoshito Yahagi, the five-year-old son of Real Steel has turf winners on both sides of his pedigree.

Shin Emperor is another Prince Of Wales’s Stakes entry for Forever Young’s owner Susumu Fujita, while Yahagi has entered American Stage for the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.

Yahagi said: “I have been thinking – and saying in public – that I should send Forever Young to a turf race in the future. His owner Susumu Fujita shares this feeling and the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes is one of the turf race options I should consider.

“It is very prestigious for a trainer to have a runner at Royal Ascot, while I think it is very attractive idea to send Forever Young for the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, although he has had an easy time since he returned from Middle East.

“Shin Emperor will have his next start in the Tenno Sho Spring at Kyoto on May 3rd. We will see how he runs there and comes out of the race before deciding about Royal Ascot.

“Katsumi Yoshizawa, who owns American Stage, has an international mind, so the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes is one of the options we are considering for an international campaign.”

Trainer Daisuke Takayanagi and owner Tomoya Ozasa have two entries, headed by unexposed sprinter T O Elvis in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. A five-length winner of a G3 at Nakayama last time out, the four-year-old lines up in G1 company at Churchill Downs this weekend.

Takayanagi said: “T O Elvis has been trained for the Churchill Downs Stakes on May 2nd, after which it is the plan to ship him directly to the UK.

“While he has been running dirt races recently, his first start, a maiden for unraced two-year-olds, was a turf race. He finished third to Panja Tower, who subsequently won the Group One NHK Mile, and I have always considered trying him on turf again.

“Although T O Password has had all of his starts on dirt, I have an impression from his morning track work that he should act as well on turf. I think the time has come to try a turf race, which is why I entered him for the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.

“Royal Ascot is a wonderful race meeting, while Ascot is a fantastic racecourse, both of which have a long history. It has been one of my dreams to have a runner there and owner Tomoya Ozasa has the same feeling as me.”

Ai Sansan could tackle the King Charles III Stakes for Yoshitake Hashida, with the four-year-old filly having gained a first Group race success in the G3 Aichi Hai Stakes over seven furlongs at Chukyo last month.

Hashida said: “After Ai Sansan won the Aichi Hai comfortably, the idea of Royal Ascot came up in my mind. Her next start will be the Victoria Mile at Tokyo on May 17th. I would like to see how she runs there and comes out of the race before me and her owner Koji Oka consider shipping her to the UK for Royal Ascot.

“Given Ascot is a tougher track than any racecourse in Japan, I think a shorter distance there should be suitable for Ai Sansan, plus she is brave and quick. They are the reasons why I entered her for the King Charles III Stakes.”

Two horses on track for the King Charles III Stakes are Asfoora, who handed Australia an eighth Royal Ascot success in the 2024 edition of the race, and defending champion American Affair (Jim Goldie).

Asfoora finished fifth last year and subsequently recorded famous victories in the G1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York and G1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp, after which she wintered in Newmarket with another European campaign in mind.

The Australian challenge could also feature Bjorn Baker’s dual G1 scorer Overpass, 2024 G1 Golden Slipper heroine Lady Of Camelot for Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott, and Joliestar’s stablemate Generosity, who won a Randwick G2 in March.

Lady Of Camelot has not raced competitively following two narrow defeats at G1 level in Sydney last March, although the daughter of Written Tycoon is set to make her comeback this weekend.

Waterhouse said: “Lady Of Camelot had an exhibition gallop at Randwick on Saturday. She has since travelled north to Queensland, where she is set to resume in the Group Two Victory Stakes over 1,200 metres at Eagle Farm on 2nd May. Her performance there, and in her second-up run, will dictate whether or not she heads overseas.”

G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint scorer Cy Fair is the leading US-trained contender, with George Weaver’s filly entered for the King Charles III Stakes, Commonwealth Cup and Coronation Stakes. She is due to run later this week in the G3 Mamzelle Stakes at Churchill Downs.

The all-conquering Chantilly stable of Francis-Henri Graffard has 16 entries, headed by Sunday's hugely impressive G1 Prix Ganay scorer Daryz. The four-year-old would become the first Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner to line up at Royal Ascot since Treve in 2014.

Following his comeback, Graffard told the TDN: “Daryz has gained strength and maturity... he has more power now and is more assertive in his behaviour. I am lucky to work with very good horses, but he is truly exceptional, well-bred with a remarkable physique, especially a superb hindquarter. Looking ahead, the target is already set – the Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot."

Trawlerman tops the Gold Cup entries for John & Thady Gosden as he aims to win the race for a second time. Last year’s G1 St Leger one-two of Scandinavia (Aidan O’Brien) and Rahiebb (Roger Varian), plus G2 Dubai Gold Cup scorer Fairy Glen (Simon & Ed Crisford), head the potential opposition.

Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby has a leading hand in the Queen Anne Stakes, with G1 Breeders’ Cup Mile victor Notable Speech joined by recent Sandown Park scorer Opera Ballo. Last year’s winner Docklands (Harry Eustace) and 2025 St James’s Palace Stakes scorer Field Of Gold (John & Thady Gosden) are also engaged.

Ahead of this weekend’s Newmarket Classics, many of the leading contenders have been entered for either the St James’s Palace Stakes or Coronation Stakes, including Bow Echo (George Boughey), Distant Storm (Charlie Appleby), Precise (Aidan O’Brien) and Venetian Sun (Karl Burke).

G1 Middle Park Stakes hero Wise Approach (Charlie Appleby) and G2 Norfolk Stakes winner Charles Darwin (Aidan O’Brien), who made a successful return at Navan over the weekend, feature among the entries for the Commonwealth Cup.

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