Betting With, and Against, Forever Young in the Jockey Club Gold Cup

International superstar #7 Forever Young (3-5) was assigned the widest post for Friday’s opening-day feature at the ‘new’ Belmont Park, the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1). The 1 1/4-mile test on the main surface attracted four millionaires among the five (scratched down from seven) that will go postward, but the contest goes through the Japanese sensation who has accumulated more than $31 million in his racing career. 

Forever Young – With

• $15 exacta 7 with 1,2 ($30)
• $5 trifecta key 7 with 1,2 ($10)

Forever Young – Against

• $15 win and place #2 Stars and Stripes ($30)
• $1 trifecta 1,2 with 7 with all ($10)

Forever Young is 11-for-15 in his lifetime and has run huge on multiple occasions in the U. S., highlighted by a triumph in the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar. An unlucky third in the 2024 Kentucky Derby (G1), the Yoshito Yahagi trainee was last seen finishing a clear second in the Dubai World Cup (G1) in March and has reportedly been training in a positive fashion in preparation for his Belmont bow. The five-year-old son of Reel Steel will be formidable with anything close to his peak performance under regular rider Ryusei Sakai. 

The favorite will not be fully cranked up for the race, however, and bettors have a few options looking to upset the prohibitive favorite. Trainer Bill Mott has a pair of entrants in the cast, and both have appeal to me in this fascinating tilt. #2 Stars and Stripes (15-1) has yet to prove he belongs with Grade 1 runners, but he is a talented four-year-old with room for improvement, and the 10-furlong distance will be right in his wheelhouse. The Not This Time colt is a Grade 3 hero coming off a game score in the Birdstone S. at 1 3/4 miles at Saratoga in his latest appearance and will move forward in his third run off the break. I love both his value and the fact that John Velazquez will be taking the reins. 

Grade 1 star #1 Baeza has a world of raw ability and will race with blinkers off for the first time for Mott. The McKinzie colt has well-documented issues of breaking poorly from the gate, but the equipment change might aid him in this endeavor, and he will also have time to recover from a slow start while stretching out to 1 1/4 miles. The Kentucky-bred four-year-old drilled a bullet five panels on the Oklahoma training oval at Saratoga in his latest venture, and his best race will surely put him in the mix with Junior Alvarado taking the reins.