In The Money Telegraph
Monday, June 22, 2026 · By ITM Staff
Royal Ascot is in the books, but the autumn picture just got a marquee name — and a US comeback worth circling.
Forever Young Picks the New Belmont
Sunday brought the news a lot of American fans were hoping for: Forever Young is coming back. Yoshito Yahagi’s globetrotting superstar — reigning Breeders’ Cup Classic champion, back-to-back Saudi Cup winner, and the 2025 Japanese Horse of the Year — will target a Classic title defense at Keeneland, and he’ll prep for it right here in the States.
Connections confirmed he’ll run in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup — and the timing could not be better, because that race headlines the grand reopening of the new Belmont Park on September 18. The ten-furlong Gold Cup returns to Belmont after five years at Saratoga, it’s a “Win and You’re In” for the Classic, and it’ll be live on FOX. A new five-story grandstand, a remade paddock, four new racing surfaces — and one of the best dirt horses on the planet to christen it.
For our purposes it’s a two-for-one: a headline act for the Belmont reopening we’ve been looking forward to, and a genuine star added to the Breeders’ Cup picture at Keeneland (October 30–31) that we’re tracking all summer. If he gets there, Forever Young can become just the second two-time Classic winner after Tiznow.
Royal Ascot: That’s a Wrap
Five days, glorious weather, and a finale headlined by Almeraq’s nose victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee. Aidan O’Brien took leading trainer in the week he reached a historic 100 Royal Ascot winners, Ryan Moore finished leading jockey, and Wesley Ward’s Bacio gamble flew the flag for the American raiders. Our team covered every race, every day — a meeting to remember.
Catch up on all our Royal Ascot coverage →
The Week Ahead
The American summer is heating up. Monmouth rolls on toward the biggest day of the New Jersey racing year — Haskell day on July 18, with the Grade 2 Molly Pitcher among the stakes on the card — and Saratoga’s storied summer meet is just over the horizon. We’ll have daily coverage across Monmouth, Churchill, Los Alamitos, Laurel and more, all week long.
Monday Card: Presque Isle Downs
Need a play to start the week? Chance Rains goes race by race through Presque Isle’s Malvern Rose Stakes Day, an eight-race card headlined by the $75,000 Malvern Rose Stakes for three-year-old fillies — with selections and a few prices worth a second look on the tapeta.
Read Chance Rains’s Presque Isle card →
ICYMI: The 2026 Three-Year-Old Top 10
With the older stars like Forever Young plotting their autumn campaigns, it’s a good moment to size up the generation coming through behind them. PTF and JK count down the top ten three-year-olds of 2026 so far — and debate whether dual-classic winner Golden Tempo really deserves the top spot over the likes of Englishman.
▶ Watch the Three-Year-Old Top 10 →
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