The first of the Japanese Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve contenders, Forever Young, arrived at Churchill Downs early in the morning on April 13, and he is beginning to settle in at the place he’ll call home for the next three weeks.

Forever Young won the United Arab Emirates Derby Sponsored by Atlantis The Royal March 30 at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. He departed Dubai the morning of April 10 and, after a pit stop in Brussels, Belgium, the undefeated colt landed in Chicago around 11:15 p.m.

Forever Young at Churchill (Coady Photography)

The son of Real Steel is a perfect 5-for-5 and could be Japan’s best shot yet at taking home the roses. Now a professional traveler after trips to Saudi Arabia and Dubai, Forever Young has taken every step of his globetrotting journey in stride.

“He shipped really well to Saudi and Dubai,” Churchill Downs Asia representative Kate Hunter said. “[His connections] seem to be very pleased with him across the board. He recovers from each race really well without needing any kind of veterinary intervention. He seems to have a very strong, natural physical response to rebuilding his own body.”

Transported to the Chicago Import Quarantine facility in West Dundee, Ill., Forever Young spent the typical time of 42 hours in quarantine before being cleared the night of April 12. He was on the road by 9 p.m. and arrived at Churchill Downs at 4:15 a.m. the next morning.

“He was ready to get out and ready to rumble,” Hunter said of the colt’s eagerness to get out of quarantine. “He’s very happy to be able to stretch his legs now every morning at Churchill.”

It didn’t take long for Forever Young to test the Churchill Downs surface as he visited the track for the first time April 14. Like his Derby predecessors from Japan, he begins his exercise with a warm-up session in the chute before walking to the front side to begin his daily gallop.

“So far, he seems to like it,” Hunter said of the Churchill Downs track. “He seems to have settled in very well.”

Hunter mentioned that Forever Young’s exercise rider, Yusaku Oka, said that the surface was not as firm as they were expecting. However, this is probabvly due to the amount of rain Louisville has received in the last week.

Forever Young at Churchill (Coady Photography)

Forever Young very likely will see his first more serious piece of work toward the end of this week or early next week. He will be on a Tuesday-Saturday breeze schedule, an adjustment made by trainer Yoshito Yahagi to reflect the fact that Forever Young has been competing on Saturdays this year.

“The big races in Japan are typically on Sunday, so they breeze on Wednesday,” Hunter said. “Because the races are on Saturday now, he’s switched a day ahead. It’s worked out very well for him.”

Yahagi has had success in the United States before, winning the 2021 Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf with Loves Only You  and the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff with Marche Lorraine. He was also the trainer of Continuar, who traveled to Louisville to participate in the 2023 Kentucky Derby before he was scratched in the days leading up to the race.

“As Yahagi and his team get more and more experience overseas, they’re tweaking everything,” Hunter said. “Learn from the things they did in the past to try and improve their future.”

Yahagi himself will not arrive until Derby week, but jockey Ryusei Sakai will arrive next week and start riding Forever Young in the morning.

T O PASSWORD’S TRAVEL PLANS SET

Forever Young is not Japan’s only hope for the 2024 Kentucky Derby. T O Password, who qualified by winning the Fukuryu Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse and clinching the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby invite, will join Forever Young in Kentucky soon.

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According to Hunter, T O Password will leave Japan the morning of April 23. The Copano Rickey  colt will arrive in Chicago by way of Anchorage, Alaska, around 11 p.m. that night. After clearing his 42-hour quarantine, he should arrive in Louisville the morning of April 26 — one day before the deadline set by Churchill Downs for Derby contenders to arrive.

T O Password will have a companion for his trip. Trainer Daisuke Takayanagi and owner Tomoya Ozasa are also sending over T O Saint Denis, a 5-year-old by Kitasan Black who is expected to be entered in the May 3 Alysheba Stakes presented by Sentient Jet at Churchill Downs.

A two-time winner from 22 starts, T O Saint Denis marks a symbolic victory for Hunter in her quest to see more Japanese horses participating in the U.S.

“I’ve been trying to get [horses for the other races Derby weekend] for a while and this is the first time it worked out,” Hunter said. “The Japanese are stretching their legs out internationally more in general. I am getting a lot more interest in [Grade 1] races all over the United States from Japanese wanting to come over.”

There are still many financial, medical, and logistical hurdles to overcome for Japanese connections when traveling to the U.S., but Hunter has been hard at work pushing for change to make it more feasible for Japanese runners to compete regularly.

“If I’m able to get the Japanese ducks in a row with the government regulations and the testing, you could see Japanese horses over here all the time,” Hunter said.