Japan’s Forever Young confirmed his status as the world’s top-ranked dirt horse, and a globetrotting legend, by successfully defending his title in Saturday’s $20 million Saudi Cup (G1).

W Heart Bond became only the second female to win the race formerly known as the Japan Cup Dirt.

Forever Young earned a well-deserved first U.S. success Saturday in the $6.37 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar, a first for a Japan-based horse.

The richest race in the world became a race for the ages on Saturday, as Forever Young and Romantic Warrior fulfilled hopes of an epic clash in the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1).

Odds-on favorite Shin Emperor wired Saturday’s Neom Turf Cup (G2), kicking off a clean sweep of the Saudi Cup Day turf stakes for Japan.

Japanese star Forever Young scored his first internationally recognized Group 1 victory in Sunday’s Tokyo Daishoten (G1) at Oi.

Godolphin’s Lemon Pop concluded his stellar career with a repeat victory in Sunday’s Champions Cup (G1) at Chukyo, just lasting by a nose from the rallying Wilson Tesoro.

Forever Young, Remake, Spirit Dancer, Tower of London, and Annaf won on the Saudi Cup undercard.

Godolphin already has defending champion Cody’s Wish in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1), but their Japanese-based star Lemon Pop put himself into the discussion with a breathtaking display in Monday’s Mile Championship Nambu Hai at Morioka.

Before Panthalassa capped the day in the Saudi Cup (G1), Japan scored two lucrative wins on turf with Bathrat Leon and Silver Sonic, and British raider Mostahdaf romped in the Neom Turf Cup (G3).

Godolphin’s Lemon Pop confirmed himself as a rising dirt star in Sunday’s February (G1) at Tokyo, while Grade 1 turfiste Shirl’s Speight couldn’t lift on the surface and wound up ninth.

Trainer Yoshito Yahagi masterminded another international coup early on Dubai World Cup Day, as the 60-1 Bathrat Leon stunned the $1 million Godolphin Mile (G2) in wire-to-wire fashion.