2022 JRA Awards

BEST TWO-YEAR-OLD COLT

BEST TWO-YEAR-OLD FILLY

BEST THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY

BEST OLDER COLT OR HORSE

BEST OLDER FILLY OR MARE

BEST SPRINTER OR MILER

BEST DIRT HORSE

BEST STEEPLECHASE HORSE

BEST TRAINER (RACES WON) & (MONEY EARNED)

Yoshito Yahagi turned in yet another successful season to score his third consecutive and fifth overall Best Trainer awards for Races Won. He also claimed his fourth successive title for Money Earned – tied with Hall of Famer Kazuo Fujisawa, who achieved the same feat both in 1995-1998 and 2001-2004. While his best accomplishment at the JRA-G1 level in 2022 was a runner-up effort in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), Yahagi continued to enjoy overseas successes by notching four group-race victories – the Dubai Turf with Panthalassa, the Red Sea Turf Handicap and Dubai Gold Cup with Stay Foolish, and the Godolphin Mile with Bathrat Leon.

The son of Kazuto Yahagi, a former trainer at NAR’s Oi Racecourse, Yoshito Yahagi has always been around horses. His father initially did not approve of him becoming a horse trainer, but finally agreed on the condition that he would strive to become a JRA trainer and would first learn the art of training outside Japan. As a result, he learned training basics in Australia, where he worked at Randwick in New South Wales and at Flemington, Victoria and Toowoomba in Queensland, after which he trained in Britain. Upon returning to Japan, he introduced interval training to help his father’s yard and then enrolled in the stable employee course at the JRA Horse Racing School.

Yahagi became an assistant trainer for a number of JRA trainers, including Sadataka Sugaya, from whom he learned the business side of running a successful training yard. Although it took him more than 10 years to obtain his license, it was not long before his unique training philosophy and staff management proved effective. He made the top 10 in the national rankings in his fourth season as a trainer, achieved the runner-up position in the following year and has remained in the top 10 since 2012. His titles include JRA Awards for Best Trainer (Races Won) in 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021 and 2022, Best Trainer (Money Earned) from 2019 to 2022, and Best Trainer (Training Technique) in 2020 and 2021.

Yahagi’s notable horses also include 2010 Best Two-Year-Old Colt Grand Prix Boss, 2012 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) winner Deep Brillante, 2016 Dubai Turf victor Real Steel, 2019 Horse of the Year Lys Gracieux, two-time G1 winner (turf and dirt respectively) Mozu Ascot, 2020 Triple Crown winner Contrail, and two 2021 Breeders’ Cup victors – Loves Only You (Filly & Mare Turf) and Marche Lorraine (Distaff).

BEST TRAINER (WINNING AVERAGE)

Mitsumasa Nakauchida claimed his fourth title for Best Trainer (Winning Average) – following 2017, 2019 and 2021 – this time with a strike rate of 19.5%. He reached his milestone 300th career win in February 2022 – the fastest among active JRA trainers and accumulated 47 seasonal wins to place third on JRA’s leaderboard (JRA races only). His four graded titles in 2022 included two G1s – the Mile Championship with Serifos and the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies with Liberty Island.

Raised on a yearling farm run by his father near Ritto Training Center, Nakauchida started horseback riding in his early teens before leaving Japan to study abroad while still a high-school student. After first studying in Ireland, he moved to England to study equine business at West Oxfordshire College while also gaining on-the-job training by exercising for top trainers such as Richard Hannon Sr. and Christiane Head-Maarek. He won two races as an amateur rider in England before graduating from college and moving to the U.S.A. to work under Hall of Famer Robert Frankel. He deepened his knowledge as a horseman at major training farms such as Darley and Coolmore, where he learned the art of breaking in and laying the groundwork with young horses.

Returning to Japan and graduating from JRA’s Horse Racing School, Nakauchida became assistant trainer to Mitsuru Hashida in 2007 and then acquired his training license in 2012, after which he worked as an apprentice for Hideaki Fujiwara. He finally opened his own yard in 2014 and scored seven wins. The next year he more than tripled his wins to 23. He landed his first grade-race title with Vous Etes Jolie in the Niigata Nisai Stakes in 2016, when his win total rose to 31, putting him 20th on JRA’s national leaderboard. He reached his 100th career win on October 15, 2017, making him the fastest trainer in JRA history to reach this milestone.

Nakauchida won his first JRA Award for Best Trainer (Winning Average) in 2017 with a win rate of 21.4%, scoring 46 wins to place eighth on the national leaderboard, including his first G1 victory with Danon Premium in the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes. In 2019, he claimed another JRA Award for Best Trainer (Winning Average) with 22.5% as well as Best Trainer (Training Technique) while registering 48 wins, including eight grade-race titles, to finish fourth on the national leaderboard. In 2021 he scored a personal best of 54 wins, including five graded titles, placing him above Yoshito Yahagi as JRA’s leading trainer for the first time, while also earning his third Best Trainer (Winning Average) title. His other G1 titles include the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies with Danon Fantasy in 2018 and the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes with Grenadier Guards in 2020.

BEST TRAINER (TRAINING TECHNIQUE)

Tetsuya Kimura took the Best Trainer (Training Technique) title for a second time with 34 JRA wins, including his first classics victory in the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) with Geoglyph, as well as two G1 titles, the Tenno Sho (Autumn) and Arima Kinen, both with 2022 Horse of the Year Equinox. Although ranked 19th in wins on the national leaderboard, he finished first in earnings and second in winning average (JRA alone), which led to his Training Technique title. He also celebrated his first overseas graded win with Authority in Saudi Arabia’s Neom Turf Cup in February.

Born in Kanagawa Prefecture and raised in an environment alien to racing, Kimura went to Hokkaido to work on a farm after graduating from college and then traveled to Ireland to increase his knowledge of the trade. Returning to Japan and graduating from JRA’s Horse Racing School, Kimura became an assistant trainer to Yutaka Takahashi (2001-04), Kazuhiro Seishi (2004-07) and Tadashige Nakagawa (2007-11). He finally opened his own yard in 2011, notched his first win that August, and then added another five victories by the end of the season.

After collecting 9, 16 and 14 wins respectively in the next three years, he nearly doubled his personal best to 31 in 2015, including his first graded victory in the Flower Cup (G3) with Albiano. He ranked ninth with 37 wins in 2016 but then dropped to 17th with 33 the following year. But in 2018 Kimura immediately bounced back to seventh with 48 wins, adding his first G1 title in the Mile Championship with Stelvio, to win his first two JRA Awards for Best Trainer (Winning Average) and (Training Technique). His next three seasons saw him finish 15th (36 wins) in 2019, 16th (34 wins) in 2020 and 34th (28 wins) in 2021. For his career, Kimura has 20 JRA-graded titles as of the end of the 2022 season.

GRAND PRIZE—BEST JOCKEY (RACES WON) & (WINNING AVERAGE) & (MONEY EARNED)

Yuga Kawada claimed his fourth consecutive and sixth overall Best Jockey for Winning Average award as well as his first Races Won and Money Earned titles to become the fourth Grand Prize winner in JRA history after Yukio Okabe (1987, 1991), Yutaka Take (1997-2000, 2002-2006) and Christophe Lemaire (2018). In addition to reaching his 1,800th career victory (JRA only) on September 19, his 143 wins in the 2022 season included eight grade-race titles, three of which were at the G1 level – the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) with Stars on Earth, the NHK Mile Cup with Danon Scorpion and the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies with Liberty Island.

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 debut year with 16 wins. In the following years, he gradually accumulated more wins and landed his first graded title in the Kokura Daishoten (G3) in 2006.

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) before concluding the season with 73 wins, including six grade-race victories. He rose to ninth on the leaderboard with 83 wins in 2010 and then claimed triple-digit wins for the first time the following year, placing third with 109 victories. He has ranked consistently in the top seven since then, reaching second four times: 2013, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

His other classic titles include the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) with Big Week in 2010, the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) with Gentildonna in 2012, the Oka Sho with Harp Star in 2014 and the Tokyo Yushun with Makahiki in 2016, making Kawada only the eighth jockey in history to claim all five classic races for three-year-old colts and fillies. He has also claimed the Yasuda Kinen three times, including the 2015 edition with the Horse of the Year Maurice, as well as the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes and the Takamatsunomiya Kinen twice, all part of his career total of 21 JRA-G1 titles. Apart from JRA races, Kawada won two overseas G1s with Loves Only You in 2021, one of which made him the first Japanese jockey to claim a Breeders’ Cup title (Filly & Mare Turf).

MOST VALUABLE JOCKEY

Keita Tosaki won his fourth Most Valuable Jockey, following a stretch in 2014-2016 when he was also named Best Jockey for Races Won. He reached his milestone 1,300th victory in JRA on October 29, one of his 136 seasonal wins, which made him the leader in the Eastern division and second in the national standings. Based on combined points for wins, earnings, winning average and rides in JRA races and designated races held by NAR or overseas, Tosaki earned more points in rides than the national leading jockey, Yuga Kawada, to be awarded the Most Valuable Jockey title.

Tosaki’s career began in 1998 at Oi Racecourse as a stable jockey for trainer Kazutaka Katori. He rode his first winner in April that year, scored his 100th win in 2002 and landed his first major title in the Twinkle Lady Sho with Koei Sophia in 2005. In the following year, he nearly doubled his wins to 123, then rose to third in the NAR’s national jockey rankings with 212 wins in 2007, the year when he scored his first JRA win at Hanshin Racecourse. This began a remarkable string of success as the four-time NAR leader in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012.

Given opportunities on JRA mounts, Tosaki scored his first JRA grade-race win in 2010 in the Musashino Stakes (G3) with Glorious Noah. He followed this with his first JRA-G1 victory in the 2011 Yasuda Kinen with Real Impact. After transferring to JRA racing in 2013, Tosaki quickly placed himself among the top five jockeys nationally with 113 wins, including a G1 title with Red Reveur in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies. His success continued in 2014, when he led the national standings with 10 wins more than the runner-up and capped his remarkable second season with a victory in the yearend Arima Kinen aboard Gentildonna.

He defended his champion jockey title with 130 wins in 2015 and marked a personal-best 187 wins in 2016. Tosaki has ranked in the top six ever since, except for 2020, when he was absent from racing for five months due to injury. His G1 titles include the 2015 and 2016 Victoria Mile and 2015 Sprinters Stakes with Straight Girl, his first classic victory in the 2018 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) with Epoca d’Oro, the 2020 Champions Cup with Chuwa Wizard and the 2021 Shuka Sho with Akaitorino Musume.

BEST STEEPLECHASE JOCKEY

Shinichi Ishigami led all jump-race jockeys with 15 wins in 2022, earning his third Best Steeplechase Jockey title in addition to 2016 and 2017. He registered three jump graded titles in 2022, including the Nakayama Grand Jump with legendary jumper Oju Chosan, which earned Ishigami his 10th J-G1 title in just his 1,000th career mount over obstacles. He claimed his 22nd jump grade-race victory in the Kyoto High-Jump in May, renewing the JRA record for most graded titles in steeplechase history, then accomplished another feat in August when claiming the Kokura Summer Jump, making him the first jockey to win all graded titles (10) over jumps held by the JRA. He also became the 29th jockey to reach 100 career wins over jumps on August 13, 2022.

Ishigami began his career as a flat race jockey in 2001 and he landed his first win aboard Raidenno Hana on March 31. He made steady progress with more than ten wins in each of his first four seasons and scored an impressive runner-up effort in the 2004 Copa Republica Argentina (G2) with Tenjin Musashi. But then his career soured in 2005 and 2006 due to a prolonged suspension and injuries that he sustained in a fall.

Seeking to broaden his riding opportunities, Ishigami started riding jumpers from 2007 and scored his first win in the following year, but he had to wait until 2013 for his first graded win aboard Assatis Boy in the Niigata Jump Stakes (J-G3). Eventually, he began riding over jumps more than on the flat. Though his win totals remained in the modest single-digit range, his riding skill over jumps became well appreciated due to his sound rate of finishing within the money, placing his name among the prominent jump jockeys in JRA racing.

His big break came in 2016 when he shot all the way up to the top of the national leaderboard (jump races only) with 15 wins, including five grade-race victories to tie the JRA record set by Tadashi Kosaka in 2006. He rose to stardom that year by dominating both J-G1 titles with Oju Chosan to claim the season’s JRA Award for Best Steeplechase Jockey. He then repeated the feat in 2017, also with Oju Chosan, with whom Ishigami registered six Nakayama Grand Jump and three Nakayama Daishogai victories. He also won the Nakayama Daishogai with Nihonpiro Baron in 2018.

BEST JOCKEY (NEWCOMER)

Seina Imamura rewrote several JRA records in a remarkable debut season to become the first female jockey to receive the JRA Award for Best Jockey (Newcomer). Her 51-win debut year was the fourth highest in JRA Award history, following past Best Jockey (Newcomer) winners Kosei Miura (91 wins, 2008), Yutaka Take (69 wins, 1987) and Yuichi Fukunaga (53 wins, 1996).

Born and raised in Shiga Prefecture, Imamura followed the footsteps of her father and former JRA jockey Yasunari, who won the J-G1 Nakayama Daishogai in 2001. She enrolled in the JRA Horse Racing School in 2019 and graduated three years later to begin riding for trainer Ryo Terashima. She scored her first win in her 17th career start on March 13 at Hanshin Racecourse and then notched her tenth win in May to set a new record for annual wins by a female JRA jockey in her rookie season.

In July, Imamura claimed her first graded title with T M Spada in the CBC Sho, becoming the fourth newcomer jockey in JRA history to win their graded-race debut. She went on to clear the 30-win minimum required to qualify for Best Jockey (Newcomer) in late August and then set a record with 44 wins, the most in a single season by a female jockey, in October. She marked another milestone by becoming the first rookie female to ride in a G1 event, the yearend Hopeful Stakes, in which she finished 18th with 15th pick Ska Paradise.

Special Award

Yoshitomi Shibata became the first active jockey to receive the Medal of Honor with Yellow Ribbon last year, awarded by the Japanese government for his diligence as a JRA jockey and contributions to the development and promotion of the horse racing industry. The veteran jockey, who had been struggling with an aggravated cervical disc herniation, renewed the JRA record, previously held by Yukio Okabe, as the oldest jockey to claim a JRA win at the age 56 years 3 months and 7 days on November 5, 2022.

A member of the inaugural class of JRA’s Horse Racing School established in 1982, Shibata rode his first winner a month after his debut in March 1985 and scored his first grade-race victory in the 1988 Nakayama Himba Stakes (G3, Soshin Hoju). His first G1 title was in the Yasuda Kinen with Yamanin Zephyr in 1993. He maintained his position within the top 10 jockeys for 12 years between 1993 and 2006 (excluding 2000), during which time he was ranked second from 2001-2004, reaching a personal-best 145 wins in 2004.

Shibata's nine JRA-G1 titles include the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (1993 Yamanin Zephyr, 1998 Offside Trap), the NHK Mile Cup (1996 Taiki Fortune), the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (2000 King Halo, 2006 Orewa Matteruze), the Takarazuka Kinen (2010 Nakayama Festa), the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup (2012 Rainbow Dahlia) and the Yasuda Kinen (2014 Just a Way). His major wins in NAR races include the 1994 Teio Sho, the 2003 JBC Sprint and the 2004 Japan Dirt Derby.

After a surgery to overcome a lumbar disc herniation in 2009, the veteran jockey has continued to earn the respect of horsemen and fellow jockeys with his professionalism and fair play, which led to his being elected chairman of JRA’s jockeys association from 2005-2010. Shibata, who reached his milestone 1,000th JRA win in 2001 and 2,000th win in 2011, became only the sixth jockey in JRA history to attain 2,300 wins in March 2021. Five months after this historic feat, he became the oldest jockey at 55 to win a graded title in the Leopard Stakes with Meisho Murakumo, marking his 96th career win in JRA grade races.

JRA EQUINE CULTURE AWARD

The JRA Equine Culture Award recognizes noteworthy achievements and contributions to Japanese equine culture. Nominations for the 2022 award included horse-related cultural events and publications held or published between November 2021 and October 2022.

Winner: “Kiso Uma to Ikiru; Kaze Wataru Sato, Kaida Kogen” (Living with Kiso Horses; the Windy Village of Kaida Highland)

Recipients:
Asahi Broadcasting Nagano Co., Ltd.