2023 News
The 2023 World All-Star Jockeys Welcomes International Participants at SapporoA welcome reception attended by participants and members of the racing circle was held at Keio Plaza Hotel Sapporo from 18:00 on August 25, prior to the World All-Star Jockeys (WASJ), held over two days from tomorrow.
Alexis Badel (Hong Kong) “It’s an honor and a big pleasure to be part of the JRA challenge. I’m very very excited. I’ll try my very best to represent Hong Kong in a good way.” “The atmosphere here is great, welcoming and I feel respected. It is a privilege to race in the JRA, from an outer perspective, I have always respected Japanese races since I was a child and I have a very high image of the racing here. I think it takes racing intelligence, tactics and experience to make a good jockey and I have experienced enough to improve tactically, and not to be afraid to take chances.”
Rachel King (Australia) “I’m very honored to be here and privileged to be invited by the JRA and to be able to meet against these world-class jockeys. Hopefully we’ll be in it to win for Australia.” “I’m getting to learn about Japanese racing and I’ve seen the racecourse and stables this morning—it looked like a very professional set-up. I’m looking forward to improving my knowledge of Japanese horses. I thought that the course has an interesting shape with a long sweeping turn. It was a beautiful course—very fair, very flat and I hope my horses get the best chance.”
Joao Moreira (Brazil) “I’m also honored to be invited to this event. Obviously I have been part of this meeting a number of times and I have high hopes to win. It’s quite exciting and I’m looking forward to the event. We’ll all put on a great show for everyone.” “We have to put up a good fight this year, the members are great, but I think we will win. My previous season in Brazil and Latin America has been alright, I was able to finish fourth riding only half of the season. So I think I made the right choice to move back.”
Luke Morris (Great Britain) “I’m very honored and humbled to be invited to such a prestigious event by the JRA. I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow’s racing in Japan and fingers crossed I can represent my country very well.” “The Arc is one of the world’s greatest races so words cannot describe what it meant to me to win it last year. Mark Prescott told me if I’m not going to ride his horses for four or five days, make sure I win plenty of winners in Japan.”
Umberto Rispoli (United States) “As all my partners have already said, it’s a big privilege for me to be here after such a long time—nine years. I’ll try to do well, I’ve always had good memories of Japan since I came here in 2011. I would like to say thank you to the JRA for giving me this opportunity to be part of this challenge this year. Definitely, I would do my best to represent the United States and try to do the best as we can and everybody will put down a good show. “ “My best memory riding in Japan, more than the G1 win, is definitely the fans. What you see here you don’t see anywhere around the world—how passionate they are and to win in front of such a big crowd, it’s such a privilege and you carry those memories for the rest of your life.”
Marie Velon (France) “I’m very honored to be here. I think this will be a great experience for me. I’ll do my best to represent France and I hope it will be a great race.” “It’s great to be here. It was a very good previous season for me and participating in this series is like a new gate for my career. I have seen Japanese races on Instagram. My advice to Japanese female jockeys are work hard, always believe in your dream, trust your trainer and good luck in finding a very good horse.”
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