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The 2022 World All-Star Jockeys Welcomes International Participants at Sapporo

Prior to the two-day World All-Star Jockeys (WASJ) scheduled to be held on August 27 and 28, a press conference attended by the participants from overseas and the NAR (National Association of Racing; local public racing) was held at Keio Plaza Hotel Sapporo on August 26 from 17:00.

Theo Bachelot (FR)

“It’s my first time to be in Japan and I’m very excited to be here and ride the Japanese horses. I know Christophe Lemaire and Olivier Peslier have been successful here and horses like Deep Impact and Orfevre are well known in France. When it comes to racing, I am good at choosing effective tactics and I never give up in my races. I’d like to do my best to win, and I thank everybody for everything to make this event happen.”

David Egan (GB)

“This is the first time for me to be in Japan and I’m very honored to be asked to ride in this series and hopefully this will be the first time of many times to come. I’m very excited and hope to be on the winning team.
I have a very good impression of Japanese racing. One of the few Japanese jockeys I know is Yuga Kawada when he was in the UK. My selling point would be that I study the race in great detail beforehand, always have tactics and get my horse in a very good winning position.”

James Graham (USA)

“This is my first time in Japan. I’m honored to be invited and very happy to be here. I’m well aware of Japanese horses such as Sodashi and Deep Impact.
I don’t consider racing as work, this is fun for me—this is an easy job and I’m very fortunate.”

Chak Yiu Ho (HK)

“This is the first time to be a part of this series. In all of my races, I do my very best every time to the finish line—no matter what horse, I give a hundred percent all of the time. It would be ideal to win but it’s mainly about the horses, so hopefully I will get plenty of points and win the series.”

Coralie Pacaut (FR)

“It’s the first time for me to come to Japan, I’m so happy to be here and excited to ride in this challenge. My impression of Japanese racing is that it’s very fair and safe. I’ve witnessed Orfevre run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe which was very impressive. It’s a very good competition and I hope to do my best. One of my strengths is that I’m good at the start and I prefer fast races which I am told is one of the features of Japanese racing.”

Craig Williams (AUS)

“I’m honored to be invited again and to be representing my country in this great series. This is a great jockey challenge to be a part of and a fair competition which gives everyone a chance to win. I’ve known Japanese jockeys such as Yutaka Take, Yuichi Fukunaga very well and of course horses like Deep Impact. I encourage the fans to turn up to see the series where there will be great competition and I’m looking forward to it as well.”