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.

On top of the loaded Breeders’ Cup prep weekend stateside, five more “Win and You’re In” events are set for ParisLongchamp on Sunday.

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

A promising field has turned out for the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun at Kawasaki Racecourse in Japan, the second leg of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Breeders’ Cup-winning trainer Yoshito Yahagi added the world’s richest race to his expanding resume, when his front runner Panthalassa scored a $34.10 upset in Saturday’s $20 million Saudi Cup (G1).

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).

Saturday’s $5 million Dubai Turf (G1) nearly produced a triple dead-heat, as frontrunning Panthalassa, defending champion Lord North, and Vin de Garde flashed across the wire abreast.

A revelation on the step up to the staying ranks in the Red Sea Turf H. (G3) on Saudi Cup Day, Japan’s Stay Foolish claimed an even bigger prize by upstaging 1-5 favorite Manobo in Saturday’s $1 million Dubai Gold Cup (G2) at Meydan.

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.

Jockey Christophe Lemaire opened Saudi Cup Day with a triple aboard Japanese shippers in the turf races. Neom Turf Cup favorite Authority and Red Sea Turf H. outsider Stay Foolish benefited from enterprising frontrunning rides, while Songline rallied with a perfectly-timed move in the 1351 Turf Sprint.

In a rousing rally reminiscent of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1), Loves Only You speared between foes in deep stretch to go out a winner in Sunday’s $3.8 million Hong Kong Cup (G1) at Sha Tin.

Japanese star Contrail had one last chance to bolster his legacy in Sunday’s $6.1 million Japan Cup (G1), and the 3-5 favorite seized it to conclude his racing career in a blaze of glory.

Fresh off a ground-breaking Breeders’ Cup double with Loves Only You and Marche Lorraine, trainer Yoshito Yahagi hopes to fill another lacuna on his resume in Sunday’s $6.1 million Japan Cup (G1).

Caught behind traffic turning for home and still fourth in deep stretch, Japan’s hope Loves Only You was running out of time in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1) at Del Mar.

Shinji Maeda’s homebred champion Contrail looked in danger of losing his unbeaten record, and the Japanese Triple Crown in Sunday’s Kikuka Sho (G1) at Kyoto.