PDF(1,355kb)

2026 World All-Star Jockeys - outline and jockey profiles

• Outline
• Jockey profiles
• Past Results of World All-Star Jockeys
• Data Analyses of World All-Star Jockeys

2025 World All-Star Jockeys (closing ceremony)

The World All-Star Jockeys (WASJ) is an international event launched by the Japan Racing Association. Initially established in 1987 under the name “the World Super Jockeys Series,” it has welcomed more than 270 top-caliber jockeys from Europe, North America, South America, Oceania and Asia. Renamed the World All-Star Jockeys as a summer event at Sapporo Racecourse in Hokkaido in 2015, a team competition was added to the regular individual contest in which the overseas and NAR jockeys’ “Team WAS (World All-Star)” compete against “Team JRA” to attain the most points as a team.

The first two of the four-race series will be conducted on August 22nd (Sat.), while the remaining two will be held the following day.

August 2026 The Japan Racing Association

The 2026 World All-Star Jockeys

South Africa

Richard Fourie
	Date of Birth : November 25, 1985 ’24/’25 Season Record : 1,025 mounts, 260 wins / ZAR 37,812,723 ’25/’26 Season Record : 1,034 mounts, 225 wins / ZAR 37,720,051 Recent Career Highlights : ’26 Durban July (G1; Note To Self) ’26 Gold Challenge (G1; Questioning) ’26 Computaform Sprint (G1; Buffalo Storm Cody) Participation in the WASJ : 1st
Photo: Chase Liebenberg

South African jockey Richard Fourie concluded his 2025/2026 campaign ranked second in the national standings by collecting 225 wins which included four G1 titles—the Cape Derby on Wish List, the Computaform Sprint partnered with Buffalo Storm Cody, the Gold Challenge with Questioning and the Durban July onboard Note To Self. The record-breaking jockey is set to make his much-anticipated debut in Japan in the coming WASJ series.

Born into a family with no horse background in Carletonville, Gauteng, South Africa, Fourie was small-statured in his childhood and was encouraged to enroll in the South African Jockey Academy by a close family friend who owned racehorses. After debuting as a jockey in 2002, he won the national apprentice championship in 2003/2004 and claimed his first G1 title with Badger’s Gift in the 2007 Paddock Stakes. He topped the Western Cape’s leaderboard with 113 wins in 2007/2008, placing himself among the nation’s elite jockeys and repeated the feat in 2011/2012, this time in the Eastern Cape rankings with 47 wins.

In 2012, Fourie relocated to Hong Kong where he collected 34 wins including the Premier Bowl with Cerise Cherry who went on to register a second in the 2012 Hong Kong Sprint behind Japan’s legendary sprinter Lord Kanaloa. He returned home the following year but undertook a short stint back in Hong Kong during the 2015/2016 season in which he claimed the 2015 Ladies’ Purse with Top Act.

In South Africa, Fourie’s other G1 victories include the Cape Derby with Russian Sage (2008), Legislate (2014), Eyes Wide Open (2018), Pomp And Power (2022) and Eight On Eighteen (2025); the Daily News 2000 with Russian Sage (2008), Legislate (2014) and Eight On Eighteen (2025); the Durban July with Legislate (2014), Do It Again (2019) and Belgarion (2020); the Gold Challenge with Legislate (2015), Do It Again (2019) and Al Muthana (2022); the Queen’s Plate with Do It Again (2019); and the Cape Town Met with Jet Dark (2023) and Eight On Eighteen (2025). Numerous titles come from his partnership with renowned trainer Justin Snaith.

While constantly within the top seven on the national leaderboard since 2016/2017, Fourie grabbed his much-awaited champion title in 2023/2024 by reaching 378 wins, surpassing Anthony Delpech’s annual record of 334 wins set in 1998/1999 and was awarded the Equus Awards’ Champion Jockey trophy.

Canada

Rafael Hernandez
	Date of Birth : November, 9, 1984 2025 Season Record : 630 mounts, 148 wins / USD 6,480,672 (Woodbine) 2026 Season Record : 218 mounts, 47 wins / USD 2,234,886 (Woodbine) Recent Career Highlights : ’26 Hendrie Stakes (G3; Creed's Gold) ’26 Trillium Stakes (G3; Fantastical) ’24 Natalma Stakes (G1; And One More Time) Participation in the WASJ : 1st

Two-time Woodbine champion jockey Rafael Hernandez currently stands third in the rankings as of July 31 with 47 wins which include three G3 events. Accumulating nearly 3,500 wins so far, the 41-year-old rider will make his debut in Japan and aim to become the second Canadian-based jockey to grab the World All-Star Jockeys champion title following Eurico Da Silva in 2017.

A native of San Lorenzo in Puerto Rico, Hernandez began riding, influenced by his uncle Heriberto Rivera Jr., a former jockey who won over 3,100 races, and enrolled in the Vocational Equestrian School whose graduates include top jockeys such as John Velazquez, Jose Ortiz and Irad Ortiz Jr. After graduating, he moved to the United States and made his riding debut at Tampa Bay Downs in 2004 during which he scored 57 wins at racetracks in Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland and West Virginia.

Riding mainly in Illinois thereafter, Hernandez registered over 100 annual wins between 2005 and 2010, then surpassed the 200-winner mark between 2011 and 2014. He held the leading titles at Fairmount Park in 2005-2008 and 2010-2014. He also rode at various racetracks including Woodbine, Canada’s flagship racetrack, at which he claimed his first graded title in the G3 Grey Stakes in 2014 and eventually relocated two years later.

After ranking fourth with 99 wins at his first year at Woodbine, Hernandez has placed himself within the top three since 2017—third with 154 wins in 2017, second in both 2018 and 2019 with 168 and 164 wins, respectively—and became the champion jockey by collecting 129 wins in 2020 which earned him the Sovereign Award as Outstanding Jockey. He ranked second by winning 84 races in 2021, 122 in 2022, and third in 2023 with 119 wins which included his memorable 3,000th career victory. Following another second in 2024 with 140 wins, the Puerto Rican rider topped the chart again with 148 wins last year.

While registering more than 50 graded titles in North America, Hernandez’s first G1 victory came in the E. P. Taylor Stakes with Etoile in 2020, which was followed by another two G1s, both in the Natalma Stakes, with Last Call in 2022 and And One More Time in 2024. He has also notched several prestigious Canadian Triple Crown titles; the King’s Plate with Shaman Ghost in 2015, Moira in 2022 and Caitlinhergrtness in 2024; and the Breeders’ Stakes onboard Camp Creek in 2016, Channel Maker in 2017, Tone Broke in 2019 and Tom’s Magic in 2025.

Australia

Damian Lane
	Date of Birth : February 6, 1994 ’24/’25 Season Record : 291 mounts, 34 wins / AUD 10,183,450 (Victoria Metropolitan) ’25/’26 Season Record : 200 mounts, 33 wins / AUD 8,297,155 (Victoria Metropolitan) Recent Career Highlights : ’26 NHK Mile Cup (G1; Rodeo Drive) ’26 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes (G1; Tentyris) ’25 Caulfield Guineas (G1; Autumn Boy) Participation in the WASJ : 2nd

Damian Lane enjoyed another successful 2025/2026 season in Australia and Japan. In Australia, he finished seventh in the Melbourne Metropolitan Jockey Premiership with 33 wins, while claiming three G1 titles—the Memsie Stakes with Treasurethe Moment, the Caulfield Guineas with Autumn Boy and the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes with Tentyris. In Japan, he rode under a short-term license from April to June this year, during which he won the G1 NHK Mile Cup with Rodeo Drive. He will make his second challenge in the World All-Star Jockeys, having finished seventh overall in 2024.

Born in Bunbury, Western Australia, as the son of jockey-turned-trainer Michael, Lane debuted in June 2009 as an apprentice to his father. After registering more than 150 wins in Western Australia, he moved to Melbourne during the 2010/2011 season to join the Matt Ellerton and Simon Zahra stable. He claimed his first group-race victory with Se Sauver in the 2013 Edward Manifold Stakes and his maiden G1 title with Trust in a Gust in the 2014 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes. He has consistently ranked among the top ten since the 2015/2016 season and became Melbourne’s champion jockey for the first time in 2023/2024.

Lane’s G1 victories in Australia include the Australian Cup with Humidor (2017); the Toorak Handicap and the Mackinnon Stakes with former Japanese-trained Tosen Stardom (2017); the ATC Australian Derby with Jon Snow (2017) and Aeliana (2025); the VRC Oaks with Aristia (2018) and Treasurethe Moment (2024); the Golden Slipper with Kiamichi (2019) and Marhoona (2025); the ATC Australian Oaks with El Patroness (2022), Pennyweka (2023) and Treasurethe Moment (2025); and the Caulfield Cup and the Cox Plate in 2019 aboard Japanese contenders, Mer De Glace and Lys Gracieux, respectively.

Lane has ridden in Japan under short-term licenses every year since 2019 except for 2021. He has scored 208 JRA wins from 903 mounts so far, including 20 graded wins, of which seven are at G1 level—the Victoria Mile (Normcore), the Takarazuka Kinen and the Arima Kinen (Lys Gracieux) in 2019, the Mile Championship (Serifos) in 2022, the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, Tastiera) in 2023, the Tenno Sho (Spring) (Redentor) in 2025 and this year’s NHK Mile Cup. He also claimed the 2019 Teio Sho with Omega Perfume in NAR racing, and the 2022 Hong Kong Vase with Japanese mare Win Marilyn and the 2025 Queen Elizabeth II Cup with Tastiera in Hong Kong. He has registered more than 1,800 career wins within and outside Australia.

Australia

Zac Lloyd
	Date of Birth : August 18, 2003 ’24/’25 Season Record : 512 mounts, 67 wins / AUD 11,856,000 (NSW Metropolitan) ’25/’26 Season Record : 506 mounts, 79 wins / AUD 16,921,320 (NSW Metropolitan) Recent Career Highlights : ’26 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (G1; Idle Flyer) ’26 Vinery Stud Stakes (G1; Belle Cheval) ’26 Golden Slipper (G1; Guest House) Participation in the WASJ : 1st
Photo: Georgia Young

Zac Lloyd, still in his early 20s, continues to enjoy great success ever since the beginning of his career as a jockey and the two-time champion apprentice jockey finished second in the 2025/2026 season by collecting 79 wins, which included three G1 titles in the Golden Slipper with Guest House, the Vinery Stud Stakes with Belle Cheval and the Queen Of The Turf Stakes with Idle Flyer. Following his overseas stints in Great Britain and South Africa, the quick-rising jockey will be showcasing his skills in his first appearance at Sapporo in the coming World All-Star Jockeys.

Born in Durban, South Africa, Zac was raised in a racing family with his father Jeff, a former jockey who amassed over 5,000 career wins with around 90 G1 victories in South Africa, Mauritius, Hong Kong and Australia, and elder brother, Jaden, also an active jockey. After spending his childhood in Hong Kong and graduating from high school in Australia, he became apprentice to Toby Edmonds at Gold Coast and won his debut race at Dalby on November 27, 2020, before concluding his first season with 24 provincial wins in Queensland.

Lloyd became a champion apprentice at Gold Coast and scored 54 provincial victories in 2021/2022, which led him to join the stables of then Godolphin’s private trainer James Cummings with recommendations from Darren Beadman (then racing manager for Godolphin Australia). Based in Sydney to ride in metropolitan racing, he claimed his first group-race title in the G2 Millie Fox Stakes and quickly rose to place second behind James McDonald on the premiership in 2022/2023. His record of 76 wins that season was the second highest to Wayne Harris (89 wins) back in 1980/1981 for apprentice jockeys in metropolitan racing which earned him the added honor of the Bart Cummings Medal.

Lloyd led the apprentice leaderboard two straight seasons and was ranked fifth among seniors with 601/2 wins in Sydney in 2023/2024, during which he notched his first G1 victory with Stefi Magnetica in the Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm in Queensland. In the following 2024/2025 season, he was third in Sydney with 67 wins including two G1s—the Flight Stakes with Lady Shenandoah and the Randwick Guineas with Linebacker.

Despite chances of becoming the premiership leader, Lloyd chose to gain experience and success abroad—registering seven wins in Great Britain in June including a victory in the Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot and riding his first winner in his birthplace, South Africa.

India

Suraj Narredu
	Date of Birth : February 7, 1985 Recent Records : 71 mounts, 29 wins (Kolkata; 2024/2025 Winter) 110 mounts, 52 wins (Kolkata; 2025/2026 Winter) Recent Career Highlights : ’26 Indian Champion Cup (Listed; Duke Of Tuscany) ’25 Mysore Derby (Listed; Miracle Star) ’25 Maj. P. K. Mehra Memorial Super Mile Cup (Listed; Shamrock) Participation in the WASJ : 1st

Suraj Narredu, India’s most accomplished active jockey, reached a major milestone in January this year in becoming the first Indian jockey ever to surpass the 2,500-winner mark. Also on New Year’s Day, he tied a long-standing Indian racing record set by Aslam Kader in the 1993/1994 Mumbai season in claiming all six rides on the same card. With more than 250 domestic grade-race victories and over 100 classic titles to his name, the legendary jockey will make his much-desired debut in Japan in the coming World All-Star Jockeys.

Born in Bangalore in southern India, Suraj Narredu comes from a prominent racing family—both his father Satish and uncle Malesh are established jockey-turned trainers who each have achieved over 1,000 wins as jockeys while his brother Rajesh is also a successful trainer. Inspired by Britain’s top jockey Lanfranco Dettori, Narredu began riding at the Bangalore Amateur Riding Institute before obtaining his jockey’s license in 2002.

The promising young rider claimed his first classic victory the following year in the Hyderabad 2000 Guineas (Coral Gables) and won the leading apprentice title in the 2003/2004 Bangalore Winter meeting. He accumulated wins to establish himself as a top jockey and became the youngest jockey in India to reach the milestone of 1,000 career wins in 2010 and then 2,000 in 2019. Four-time Champion Jockey of the Year between 2020 and 2023, Narredu has topped nearly 30 meetings nationwide, including the winter meetings at Kolkata in 2024/2025 and 2025/2026.

Among the five major classic races held at Mumbai, Narredu boasts 11 titles—the Indian 1000 Guineas with Godspeed (2014) and Lady In Lace (2017); the Indian 2000 Guineas with Be Safe (2014), Lagarde (2021 January), A Star Is Born (2021 December) and Synthesis (2023); the Indian Derby with Be Safe (2015), Star Superior (2019), War Hammer (2020) and Immortality (2021); and the Indian St. Leger with Touch of Grey (2024).

Outside of India, Narredu has riding experiences in Macau, Mauritius, Malaysia, Dubai, France, Ireland, the United States and Australia. He won the championship in the 2009 International Jockeys’ Weekend in Mauritius, denying hopefuls such as Mickael Barzalona, Maxime Guyon, Hayley Turner and Karis Teetan. Last year, he took part in the Shergar Cup in which his uncle Malesh also participated in 2009, and as a captain of Team Asia, claimed a win, a fourth and fifth in five races to lead his team to an overall victory.

France

Marie Velon
	Date of Birth : February 8, 1999 2025 Season Record : 599 mounts, 51 wins / EUR 1,219,535 (France) 2026 Season Record : 208 mounts, 16 wins / EUR 298,152 (France) Recent Career Highlights : ’24 Prix Foy (G2; Iresine) ’23 Prix Ganay (G1; Iresine) ’23 Prix Miesque (G3; Tamfana) Participation in the WASJ : 2nd
Photo: Scoopdyga

Marie Velon will return to Japan for the first time in three years since her debut in Japan in the 2023 World All-Star Jockeys, where she was fourth overall and claimed her first JRA victory in the third leg. Later that year, she partnered with Iresine in the Japan Cup and finished ninth. The winner of six consecutive Cravache d’Or Feminin titles (2020-25) suffered an injury in February, returned to racing in April and stands 38th with 16 wins as of the end of July. She will aim to become the first female champion in her second World All-Star Jockeys appearance.

Born in Lyon, France, Velon became interested in horse racing when she started going to the local racecourses with her family and began riding ponies. At the age of 12, her uncle and former jockey, Antoinat, took her to the Bernard Goudot stables in Chazey-sur-Ain, where she rode for three years. She then joined the AFASEC horse racing school and personally approached Alain de Royer-Dupre to become his apprentice and made her debut in 2016. In 2017, she moved to Jean-Pierre Gauvin’s stable in search of more riding opportunities and marked her first win in September before concluding the season with four wins.

She significantly increased her win total, climbing to 35th on the leaderboard with 42 wins in 2018 and to 32nd with 40 wins the following year. In 2020, she rose to seventh, becoming the first female to reach the top 10 with a record 84 wins by a female jockey. Velon remained in the top 10 for five consecutive years—10th (77 wins) in 2021, ninth (67) in 2022, when the championship season changed to the March-to-October period, seventh (72) in 2023 and eighth (67) in 2024. While settling for 14th (51 wins) last year, she remained the leader among female jockeys.

Velon claimed her first group race in the La Coupe (G3) in 2021 with Iresine, with whom she went on to win the Prix Foy (G2) and captured her first group-one victory in the Prix Royal-Oak in 2022, becoming the third female jockey and the first French female jockey to win a group-one race in France. Her other group-race victories include the 2023 Prix Ganay (G1), the 2023 Prix du Conseil de Paris (G2) and the 2024 Prix Foy with Iresine, and the 2023 Prix Miesque (G3) with Tamfana.

Velon participated in the 2022 and 2026 International Jockeys Challenge in Saudi Arabia as well as in the 2024 Shergar Cup in Great Britain, where she contributed to the Ladies’ team’s overall victory with two thirds, one fourth and one fifth in five starts.

NAR (Hyogo)

Tomohiro Yoshimura
	Date of Birth : December 26, 1984 ’26 Season Record* : 546 mounts, 137 wins *NAR only Career Record* : 21,951 mounts, 3,923 wins *NAR only Recent Career Highlights : ’26 Diolite Kinen (LR; Odilon) ’26 Hyogo Yushun (God Fencer) ’26 Kikusui Sho (God Fencer) Participation in the WASJ : 3rd
Photo: NAR

Three-time NAR national champion jockey Tomohiro Yoshimura celebrated his 3,900th victory in the NAR racing circuit on June 3 this year and leads the Hyogo area jockey rankings with 134 wins as of June 21. The 41-year-old rider secured his ticket as NAR representative to participate in the coming World All-Star Jockeys for the third time by capturing this year’s NAR Jockey’s Championship title held at Funabashi Racecourse on June 2.

Born and raised in an environment alien to racing, the Osaka native studied at NAR’s Racing Education Center and made his debut in April of 2002 as a registered jockey of the Hyogo Prefectural Racing Association. Steadily accumulating wins, he claimed his first major title in the Tokai Queen Cup with Hatsune Dogo in 2005. In Hyogo’s jockey rankings, Yoshimura has never finished out of the top five since 2012 and reigned as leading jockey between 2018 and 2024 but was second in 2025 when absent from racing for three months due to an injury suffered in a fall.

Yoshimura’s annual wins exceeded 100 in 2013, 200 in 2017, and 300 in 2019. He continued to ride more than 300 winners until 2023 while renewing the record of most annual wins in the Hyogo area in 2020 with a total of 353 wins. His dramatic progress in performance led Yoshimura to become NAR’s national champion and earned him the NAR Grand Prix Best Jockey (Races Won) title in 2018, 2022 and 2023.

In his 24-year career, Yoshimura has notched numerous major titles in Hyogo and other NAR tracks—the Sonoda Kimpai in 2023 (Smile Mircha) and 2025 (Odilon); the Hyogo Yushun (the Hyogo Derby) in 2019 (Ban Rose Kings), 2023 (Smile Mircha) and 2026 (God Fencer); the Kusunoki Sho in 2022 (Ecoro Courage); the Kochikenchiji Sho in 2025 (Odilon); the Shinshun Sho in 2010 (Key Pocket), 2017 and 2019-2022 (A Shin Nispa); and the Diolite Kinen in 2026 (Odilon), his first victory in a listed NAR race open to JRA-based runners.

His first opportunity to ride in JRA races was in 2005 and he registered his much anticipated first JRA victory in July 2023 with a solid performance at Fukushima Racecourse then secured another win in the last race on the same card. He also made his first JRA G1 challenge in the Japan Cup (Kurino Megami Ace, 18th) in November that year. Yoshimura has twice challenged the World All-Star Jockeys, in 2019 and 2024, finishing an overall seventh and 11th, respectively. His son Seinosuke made his debut as a JRA jockey in 2024.

JRA (Western; Ritto Training Center)

Kohei Matsuyama
	Date of Birth : March 1, 1990 ’26 Season Record : 420 mounts, 61 wins / ¥ 1,988,868,000 Career Record : 14,070 mounts, 1,424 wins Recent Career Highlights : ’26 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1; Lovcen) ’26 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas, G1; Lovcen) ’26 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1; Star Anise) Participation in the WASJ : 3rd

Kohei Matsuyama has recorded over 100 annual wins every year since 2020 and is enjoying another successful season this year. He captured three of the four spring classic titles, winning the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) with Star Anise, as well as both the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) and the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) with Lovcen. The Ritto-based jockey reached the milestone of 1,400 JRA career wins on March 21 and is ranked third on the national leaderboard with 58 wins as of June 21 (JRA races alone). The 36-year-old, who claimed his first Derby title in his 11th attempt this year, will compete in the World All-Star Jockeys for the third time, having previously participated in 2022 (overall third) and 2024 (tied for fifth).

Born in Hyogo Prefecture, Matsuyama was a member of the junior equestrian team at Hanshin Racecourse before entering the JRA Horse Racing School. He won his debut race on his 19th birthday and added another victory later that day, becoming only the second JRA jockey-school graduate to score two wins on his debut day, following Yuichi Fukunaga in 1996. He finished his debut year with 36 wins and was named Best Jockey (Newcomer).

In 2012, Matsuyama more than doubled his annual wins to 74, ranking 13th on the national leaderboard and landing his first graded title in the G3 Chunichi Shimbun Hai with Smart Gear. He has consistently ranked among the top eight on the national leaderboard every year since 2018. He reached triple digits for the first time with 127 wins in 2020, rose to third with a personal-best 130 wins the following season, and ranked third again with 128 wins last year.

Matsuyama claimed his first JRA-G1 victory with Al Ain in the 2017 Satsuki Sho and swept the fillies’ Triple Crown—the Oka Sho, the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) and the Shuka Sho—aboard Daring Tact in 2020. His other G1 titles include the Champions Cup with T O Keynes in 2021, the NHK Mile Cup with Panja Tower, the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies with Star Anise and the Hopeful Stakes with Lovcen in 2025. He has also captured major NAR titles, including the 2015 JBC Sprint with Corin Berry, the 2021 Teio Sho and the 2022 JBC Classic with T O Keynes, and the 2023 JBC Ladies’ Classic with Icon Tailor.

He became the fastest and youngest jockey in JRA history to reach 10,000 career rides on September 19, 2021. In 2023, he won the JRA Award for Most Valuable Jockey based on combined points for wins, earnings, winning average and rides in JRA races and designated NAR and overseas races.

JRA (Western; Ritto Training Center)

Christophe Lemaire
	Date of Birth : May 20, 1979 ’26 Season Record : 329 mounts, 93 wins / ¥ 2,573,723,900 Career Record : 9,804 mounts, 2,205 wins Recent Career Highlights : ’26 Victoria Mile (G1; Embroidery) ’26 Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1; Satono Reve) ’26 February Stakes (G1; Costa Nova) Participation in the WASJ : 11th

Christophe Lemaire continues to dominate the JRA racing scene, earning the JRA Award’s Grand Prize (leader in races won, winning average and earnings) in 2024 and 2025 and stands on top of the national leaderboard (JRA races alone) again this year with 91 wins as of June 21. He has claimed three G1 titles this season—the February Stakes with Costa Nova, the Takamatsunomiya Kinen with Satono Reve and the Victoria Mile with Embroidery—while notching his 60th G1 win in JRA. He rewrote JRA’s history, registering his 2,200th JRA win in his 9,782nd career start on June 13, becoming the eighth jockey but the fastest to reach the milestone. A regular participant in the World All-Star Jockeys, Lemaire will renew his bid to claim his second overall title following 2018.

Since debuting as a regular JRA jockey in 2015, the French native has led all jockeys in Japan eight times and has 161 grade-race titles, including 55 G1 victories. Lemaire has partnered with multiple G1 winners, including Major Emblem, Satono Diamond, Soul Stirring, Rey de Oro, Almond Eye, Fierement, Gran Alegria, Equinox and Embroidery.

In 2018 he registered 215 annual wins and annual earnings of 4.66 billion yen—surpassing the long-standing records previously set by the legendary Yutaka Take—while renewing another record with eight annual G1 wins. His JRA Award Best Jockey titles include eight for Races Won (2017-21 and 2023-25), five for Winning Average (2015-2016, 2018, and 2024-2025), nine for Money Earned (2016-21 and 2023-25), five for Most Valuable Jockey (2017-21) and three Grand Prizes (2018 and 2024-2025).

Born in Chantilly, he is the son of Patrice Lemaire, a leading jump jockey in the 1980s. Lemaire began as an amateur rider in 1996 at the age of 16 and turned professional after acquiring his license in 1999. He won his first G1 title in France in the 2003 Prix Jean Prat and was soon one of his country’s top jockeys and a rising star internationally with G1 titles in France, England, the UAE, Australia, Hong Kong and the United States.

Lemaire began racing in Japan in 2002 under short-term licenses, during which he scored five G1 victories: the 2005 Arima Kinen (Heart’s Cry), the 2008 Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup (Little Amapola), the 2008 Japan Cup Dirt (Kane Hekili), the 2009 Japan Cup (Vodka) and the 2013 Japan Cup Dirt (Belshazzar).

JRA (Eastern; Miho Training Center)

Takeshi Yokoyama
	Date of Birth : December 22, 1998 ’26 Season Record : 366 mounts, 54 wins / ¥ 970,673,000 Career Record : 6,738 mounts, 819 wins Recent Career Highlights : ’25 Fuji Stakes (G2; Gaia Force) ’25 Keio Hai Spring Cup (G2; Toshin Macau) ’25 Chukyo Kinen (G3; Ma Puce) Participation in the WASJ : 4th

Takeshi Yokoyama reached the milestone of 800 JRA career wins on April 12 this year and is currently placed at the top of the Eastern division rankings while standing fifth nationally with 54 wins (JRA races alone). Although winless at graded level so far this season, he marked a valiant runner-up effort with Gaia Force in the Yasuda Kinen in June. In his fourth bid for the World All-Star Jockeys title this summer, the 27-year-old hopes to exceed his three previous results, 13th (2022), eighth (2023) and tied-fourth (2025).

Born in a renowned racing family beginning with his grandfather Tomio, a former jockey, father Norihiro and elder brother Kazuo, both active jockeys, Yokoyama made his racing debut in March of 2017 and claimed 13 wins that year. While steadily compiling more annual wins, 35 in 2018 and 54 in 2019, he claimed his first graded title in the G2 Flora Stakes on Win Marilyn in 2020 and capped off that season with 94 wins, becoming the youngest jockey to top the Eastern Japan jockey rankings (6th nationally).

In 2021, Yokoyama scored his first G1 triumph in the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) with Efforia and captured two more G1 titles with the eventual 2021 Horse of the Year in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) and the Arima Kinen. Two additional G1 wins in the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) with Titleholder and the Hopeful Stakes with Killer Ability tied him with Christophe Lemaire in notching a total of five G1 victories. He capped off his most successful campaign yet that season with 104 wins and was ranked fifth in the national standings.

Yokoyama rose to third in the national rankings with his personal-high of 127 wins in 2022 and finished third again with 126 victories in 2023 when he registered his sixth G1 title in the Satsuki Sho with Sol Oriens. He continued to tally three-digit wins the following two seasons—102 in 2024 and 110 in 2025, which placed him sixth and fourth, respectively, on the national leaderboard, and has accumulated a total of 27 graded titles in the JRA so far. Meanwhile, he has conquered nine NAR major events including the 2024-2025 JBC Ladies’ Classic with Ammothyella and the 2025 Haneda Hai and Tokyo Derby with Natural Rise.

He participated in the 2022 Shergar Cup, his first overseas endeavor, and marked a runner-up effort in one of his five starts as a member of the “Rest of the World” Team. He also rode in three overseas graded events in 2024 in which he won the Korea Cup with Crown Pride and registered a fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Mile with Geoglyph.

JRA (Western; Ritto Training Center)

Yutaka Take
	Date of Birth : March 15, 1969 ’26 Season Record : 295 mounts, 38 wins / ¥ 1,701,950,000 Career Record : 25,758 mounts, 4,663 wins Recent Career Highlights : ’26 Takarazuka Kinen (G1; Meisho Tabaru) ’26 Yasuda Kinen (G1; Sixpence) ’26 Milers Cup (G2; Admire Zoom) Participation in the WASJ : 30th

Yutaka Take continues to produce impressive results as Japan’s longstanding top jockey—he has not missed a year without a grade-race victory in 40 years since his debut. This season, he is ranked 10th on the national leaderboard with 38 wins in JRA which include the Yasuda Kinen with Sixpence and the Takarazuka Kinen with Meisho Tabaru, the latter being his 86th JRA-G1 victory and places him as the oldest G1-winning jockey at 57 years and 3 months. The legendary jockey, who has accumulated nearly 4,700 wins in JRA alone, will aim for his third champion title, following 1992 and 2022, in the coming World All-Star Jockeys.

The third son of late trainer Kunihiko, Take started riding at 10 and has consistently achieved new milestones. He debuted in 1987 and immediately distinguished himself with 69 wins. An 18-time champion jockey in 1989, 1990, 1992-2000 and 2002-2008, he exceeded 200 wins for three consecutive years starting in 2003, culminating a record 212 wins in 2005. In 2007, he became the youngest jockey to reach an unprecedented 3,000 wins.

His first G1 and classic win came with Super Creek in the 1988 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) and his first Derby title came with Special Week 10 years later. Take became the first JRA jockey to ride a G1 winner overseas when he claimed the 1994 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp with Ski Paradise trained by Andre Fabre. He also rode the first Japanese-trained G1 winner abroad when guiding Seeking the Pearl to victory in the 1998 Prix Maurice de Gheest. He has 24 wins overseas at group-race level, including seven G1 races in the United Kingdom, France, Hong Kong and Dubai combined.

Take celebrated his 100th G1 victory (JRA, NAR and overseas) when he won the Mile Championship with Tosen Ra in 2013. He has a record of 370 grade-race wins in JRA alone, among which 86 are at G1 level. Horses he has partnered that subsequently earned Horse of the Year titles include Inari One, Oguri Cap, Air Groove, Deep Impact, Vodka, Kitasan Black and Do Deuce. Since his first JRA award title as a rookie in 1987, he has won 18 jockey titles for Races Won, 16 for Money Earned, 11 for Winning Average, nine Grand Prizes for dominating all three jockey categories in the same season, and three Special Awards. He also received the Japanese government’s Medal of Honor with Yellow Ribbon in 2024 for his diligence as a JRA jockey and contributions to the development and promotion of the horse racing industry.

JRA (Eastern; Miho Training Center)

Norihiro Yokoyama
	Date of Birth : February 23, 1968 ’26 Season Record : 154 mounts, 17 wins / ¥ 406,849,900 Career Record : 21,950 mounts, 3,013 wins Recent Career Highlights : ’26 Nikkei Sho (G2; My Universe) ’25 Sapporo Kinen (G2; Top Knife) ’24 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1; Danon Decile) Participation in the WASJ : 12th

Now in his 41st season as a JRA jockey, Norihiro Yokoyama continues to position himself among the top jockeys, becoming the second jockey only to Yutaka Take to reach a milestone of 3,000 JRA career wins on March 8. The 58-year-old veteran jockey aims to win the overall title in the renewed version of JRA’s international jockeys’ competition which would make him the first jockey to claim three champion titles.

The son of Tomio, a former G1-winning jockey, and also the father of active JRA jockeys, Kazuo and Takeshi, Yokoyama kicked off his career in 1986 and marked his first win at Tokyo Racecourse with Kioi God that April. He landed his first grade-race win in 1988 in the Winter Stakes (G3) and went on to capture his first G1 victory two years later in the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup with Kyoei Tap, which was just one out of eight graded titles he marked that season.

He steadily accumulated wins and reached a milestone of 1,000 career wins (JRA races alone) in 2000, 2,000 wins in 2009 and 2,500 wins in 2014. He was ranked within the top ten on JRA’s national leaderboard between 1992 and 2012 and became the leader with 120 wins in 2010. He also won the JRA Award for Best Jockey (Winning Average) in 2010 and 2012 and earned the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Award (Horseracing Achievement Awards) and the Japanese government’s Medal of Honor with Yellow Ribbon for his outstanding decades of contribution to the horse racing circle in 2025.

Yokoyama’s 191 graded titles in JRA include 28 G1 victories such as the 1995 Mile Championship and the 1996 Yasuda Kinen with Trot Thunder; the 1996 Tenno Sho (Spring) and the 1996 Arima Kinen with Sakura Laurel; the 1998 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) and the 1998 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) with Seiun Sky; the 1999 Sprinters Stakes and the 2001 Yasuda Kinen with Black Hawk; the 2009 Tenno Sho (Autumn) and the 2009 Mile Championship with Company; the 2014 Takarazuka Kinen and the 2015 Tenno Sho (Spring) with Gold Ship; the 2009 Tokyo Yushun with Logi Universe; the 2014 Tokyo Yushun with One and Only; the 2010 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) with Saint Emilion; and the 2024 Tokyo Yushun with Danon Decile.

Among the eight World Super Jockeys Series and the three World All-Star Jockeys he has participated in so far, he has taken home the title twice in 1995 and in 2009.

JRA (Western; Ritto Training Center)

Mirai Iwata
	Date of Birth : May 31, 2000 ’26 Season Record : 424 mounts, 73 wins / ¥ 1,310,182,000 Career Record : 5,724 mounts, 672 wins Recent Career Highlights : ’26 Unicorn Stakes (G3; Silver Ratio) ’26 Mainichi Hai (G3; Altramuz) ’25 Ireland Trophy (G2; Lavanda) Participation in the WASJ : 2nd

Mirai Iwata, who has been among the top ten on the national leaderboard every year since 2020, is currently second with 71 JRA wins including two graded titles. The 26-year-old will make his second appearance in the World All-Star Jockeys, having won the overall title in 2023 by marking one second and two thirds in four races, following in the footsteps of his father, who claimed the title in the 2005 World Super Jockeys Series.

Born in Hyogo Prefecture as the son of active jockey Yasunari Iwata, he enrolled in the JRA Horse Racing School in 2016. He then became an apprentice to trainer Hideaki Fujiwara and made his racing debut in 2019. He scored his first victory in his 36th start in March, rode his first G1 race in the Mile Championship (9th) in November and capped off his rookie season with 37 wins. In the following 2020 season, Iwata more than doubled his annual wins to 76, finishing ninth on the national leaderboard in just his second season, and further increased his wins to 88 in 2021, ranking sixth.

In 2022, Iwata claimed his much-awaited graded victory in his 98th grade-race attempt, the Kyoto Himba Stakes (G3) in February with Lotus Land, with whom he went on to finish second in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen the following month. He also reached his 100th seasonal win on December 24 that year at the age of 22 years, six months and 24 days, becoming the second youngest jockey to accomplish the feat after legendary Yutaka Take, and concluded the season with 103 wins to finish sixth again.

Iwata recorded three-digit wins once again in 2023 with 113 victories to finish fifth. Although the number fell to 89 in the following 2024 season, placing him eighth, he captured his first G1 title in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies aboard Arma Veloce in his 61st attempt at that level. Last year, he again finished eighth with 95 wins including six graded titles, and marked three runner-up finishes at G1 level, the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) and the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) aboard Arma Veloce and the Queen Elizabeth II Cup with Paradis Reine. He reached his 600th career JRA win on December 28.

In the NAR racing circuit, he has notched ten major titles including the 2022 JBC Ladies’ Classic with Valle de la Luna and the 2025 Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun with Pyromancer. Iwata also has overseas riding experiences, having ridden in France and the U.K. for two months in the summer of 2024 and 2025, respectively. During his stint in the U.K., he competed in the Shergar Cup where he contributed to his team’s victory.

JRA (Western; Ritto Training Center)

Yuga Kawada
	Date of Birth : October 15, 1985 ’26 Season Record : 243 mounts, 56 wins / ¥ 1,551,375,000 Career Record : 13,332 mounts, 2,277 wins Recent Career Highlights : ’26 Yayoi Sho Deep Impact Kinen (G2; Basse Terre) ’26 American Jockey Club Cup (G2; Shohei) ’25 Mile Championship (G1; Jantar Mantar) Participation in the WASJ : 8th

Now approaching 2,300 career wins in JRA races, Yuga Kawada continues to rank among the top jockeys this season. He stands fourth in the national rankings with 54 wins (JRA races alone) as of June 21 including five graded victories. While winless at G1 level, he has recorded two runner-up efforts in the February Stakes and the Victoria Mile, and a third-place finish in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby). A regular in the World All-Star Jockeys in recent years, the 40-year-old will bid for his second title, having claimed his first in 2019.

Born into a racing family—his father is a jockey-turned-trainer and his grandfather was a trainer at Saga Racecourse (NAR)—Kawada learned to ride at an early age and made his debut in March 2004. He registered his first win two weeks later at Hanshin Racecourse and concluded his first year with 16 wins. He continued to rack up wins over the following years and landed his first graded title in the 2006 Kokura Daishoten (G3).

His big break came in 2008, when he won his first G1 and classic title with Captain Thule in the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas). He also landed five other graded victories and capped off the season with 73 wins. Kawada rose to ninth on the leaderboard with 83 wins in 2010 and reached triple figures for the first time with 109 victories in 2011 to rank third. Thereafter, he has consistently ranked within the top seven—he was second four times in 2013, 2019, 2020 and 2021 and claimed the top spot with 143 wins in 2022, in which he became the fourth Grand Prize winner by claiming all JRA Award Best Jockey titles for Races Won, Winning Average and Money Earned. He continued to enjoy success in 2023, sweeping the fillies’ Triple Crown with Liberty Island and ranking second with 151 wins. He was second again with 141 wins in 2024 and sixth with 105 wins in 2025.

Kawada’s other classic titles include; the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) with Big Week in 2010; the Yushun Himba with Gentildonna in 2012; the Oka Sho with Harp Star in 2014 and Stars on Earth in 2022; and the Tokyo Yushun with Makahiki in 2016, making him only the eighth jockey in history to claim all five classic races for three-year-old colts and fillies. Among his 30 career JRA-G1 titles are four Yasuda Kinen and Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes wins and two Takamatsunomiya Kinen, NHK Mile Cup and Sprinters Stakes victories. Kawada has also won three G1 races overseas, the Hong Kong Cup and the Breeders’ Cup in 2021 with Loves Only You—the pair was the first to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf title for Japan—and the 2023 Dubai World Cup with Ushba Tesoro.

Past Results of World All-Star Jockeys

*Iwata replaced USA's Victor Espinoza.

[NOTE] ER=Excluded from Running (by stewards) / FF=Fail to Finish / N=None to ride / S=Scratch

Data Analyses of World All-Star Jockeys