2023 JRA Awards

BEST TWO-YEAR-OLD COLT

BEST TWO-YEAR-OLD FILLY

BEST THREE-YEAR-OLD COLT

BEST THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY

BEST OLDER FILLY OR MARE & BEST MILER

BEST SPRINTER

BEST DIRT HORSE

BEST STEEPLECHASE HORSE

SPECIAL AWARD

BEST TRAINER (RACES WON)

Haruki Sugiyama was named 2023 Best Trainer (Races Won) to claim his first JRA Award. A regular name on the trainer’s national leaderboard in recent years, he reached the milestone of 200 career wins (JRA races) in January last year and concluded the season with a career-high 55 wins, including four grade-race titles, to become the JRA’s leading trainer for the first time. He claimed his fifth JRA-G1 title in the Tenno Sho (Spring) with Justin Palace, who was second to Equinox in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), while his other top-level accomplishments in 2023 included fourth-place finishes in the Yasuda Kinen (Gaia Force) and the Mile Championship (Elton Barows).

Born in Kanagawa Prefecture with no racing background, Sugiyama worked at a farm in Ishikawa Prefecture for four years after graduating high school. He enrolled in JRA’s Horse Racing School in 2004 and began as a groom and then assistant trainer at Kohei Take’s yard. After moving to Yasuyuki Takahashi’s stable in 2014, he acquired his trainer’s license and opened his own yard in 2016 during which he saddled three winners.

In the following years, Sugiyama steadily accumulated more wins, including 18 in 2017, 19 in 2018, when he claimed his first graded title in the Meguro Kinen with Win Tenderness, and 30 wins in 2019. His big breakthrough came in 2020 when he won his first G1 and classic title with Daring Tact in the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas), who went on to sweep the fillies’ Triple Crown, and he finished the season with 42 wins, ranking seventh on the national leaderboard. He then was ranked 11th with 37 wins in 2021 and fourth with 47 wins in 2022.

Other notable runners trained by Sugiyama include K T Brave, winner of the 2017 Teio Sho, the 2018 Kawasaki Kinen and JBC Classic; Miss New York, winner of the 2021-22 Turquoise Stakes; and Arrivo, who won the Kokura Daishoten and finished a respectable third in the 2022 Osaka Hai.

BEST TRAINER (WINNING AVERAGE) & (TRAINING TECHNIQUE)

Tetsuya Kimura took home the title of Best Trainer (Winning Average), which he also won in 2018, and he additionally earned a back-to-back Best Trainer (Training Technique) award, his third since 2018. Fourth with 45 wins, including nine graded titles, Kimura claimed five G1 victories worldwide—the Dubai Sheema Classic, Takarazuka Kinen, Tenno Sho (Autumn) and Japan Cup with Equinox, the world’s top-rated and two-time Horse of the Year, and the Hopeful Stakes with Regaleira.

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 further his knowledge of the trade. Returning to Japan and graduating from JRA’s Horse Racing School, Kimura became an assistant trainer, first to Yutaka Takahashi (2001-04) and then to Kazuhiro Seishi (2004-07) and Tadashige Nakagawa (2007-11). He finally opened his own yard in 2011, notching his first win that August and then adding 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 dropped to 17th with 33 the following year. In 2018, however, Kimura bounced back to seventh with 48 wins, adding his first G1 title in the Mile Championship with Stelvio, and earning his first two JRA awards for Best Trainer (Winning Average) and (Training Technique). He then finished 15th (36 wins) in 2019, 16th (34 wins) in 2020 and 34th (28 wins) in 2021.

In 2022, he was ranked 19th with 34 wins, including his first classics victory in the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) with Geoglyph, and two G1 titles—the Tenno Sho (Autumn) and Arima Kinen—both with Equinox, to earn his second Best Trainer (Training Technique) title. For his career, Kimura has 28 JRA-graded titles as of the end of the 2023 season.

BEST TRAINER (MONEY EARNED)

Yoshito Yahagi turned in yet another successful season to win his fifth straight title for Money Earned. While his success at the JRA graded level in 2023 was limited to a victory in the G3 Kyoto Nisai Stakes with Shin Emperor, Yahagi continued to enjoy success overseas with two group-race victories—the Saudi Cup with Panthalassa and the 1351 Turf Sprint with Bathrat Leon—and he also won the JBC Nisai Yushun and Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun with Forever Young. He became the sixth active trainer to reach 800 JRA wins on March 12, 2023.

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 strive to become a JRA trainer and first learn the art of training outside Japan. As a result, he learned the basics of training in Australia, working at Randwick in New South Wales, Flemington in 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 to 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 personnel management proved effective. He reached the top 10 in the national rankings in his fourth season as a trainer, rose to second place 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 2023, and Best Trainer (Training Technique) in 2020 and 2021.

Yahagi’s other notable horses 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) Mozu Ascot, 2020 Triple Crown winner Contrail, and two 2021 Breeders’ Cup victors—Loves Only You (Filly & Mare Turf) and Marche Lorraine (Distaff).

BEST JOCKEY (RACES WON) & (MONEY EARNED)

Christophe Lemaire dominated the JRA racing scene again in 2023, claiming his sixth Best Jockey title for Races Won with 165 victories and his seventh title for Money Earned. He landed 18 grade races, including seven G1 wins—the Tenno Sho (Spring) with Justin Palace, the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) with Durezza, the Queen Elizabeth II Cup with Brede Weg, the Takarazuka Kinen, the Tenno Sho (Autumn) and the Japan Cup with Equinox, and Hopeful Stakes with Regaleira. Lemaire also won two overseas graded titles—the UAE Derby (Derma Sotogake) and the Dubai Sheema Classic (Equinox).

Since debuting as a regular JRA jockey in 2015, the French native has led all jockeys in Japan six times and has 129 grade-race titles including 45 G1 victories. He has partnered with several G1 winners, including Major Emblem, Satono Diamond, Soul Stirring, Rey de Oro, Almond Eye, Fierement, Gran Alegria and his most recent star mount, Equinox. In 2018 he renewed a number of JRA records, including surpassing several long-standing records of the legendary Yutaka Take’s with 215 annual wins, eight annual G1 titles and annual earnings of 4.66 billion yen. His JRA Award Best Jockey titles include six for Races Won (2017-21 and 2023), three for Winning Average (2015, 2016 and 2018), seven for Money Earned (2016-21 and 2023), five for Most Valuable Jockey (2017-21) and one Grand Prize (2018).

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

BEST JOCKEY (WINNING AVERAGE)

Yuga Kawada earned his fifth consecutive and seventh overall Best Jockey for Winning Average award with 30.5%, the highest win rate since the JRA award was established in 1987. His 151 victories in the 2023 season included his 1,900th career victory (JRA only) on July 1 and 14 grade-race titles, 5 at the G1 level—the three fillies’ Triple Crown races with Liberty Island, the Sprinters Stakes with Mama Cocha and the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes with Jantar Mantar. He also had graded victories overseas—the Dubai World Cup (Ushba Tesoro), the Korea Sprint (Remake) and the Korea Cup (Crown Pride)—as well as 11 major wins in NAR races.

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 next few years, winning 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), among a total of 73 wins, including six grade-race victories. Kawada rose to ninth on the leaderboard with 83 wins in 2010 and the following year he reached triple figures for the first time, placing third with 109 victories. Thereafter he consistently ranked in the top seven, reaching second four times—2013, 2019, 2020 and 2021—before reaching the top spot with 143 wins in 2022 to become the fourth Grand Prize winner by sweeping the JRA Award Best Jockey titles for Races Won, Winning Average and Money Earned.

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. He has also won the Yasuda Kinen and the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes three times and the Takamatsunomiya Kinen twice, among his 26 JRA-G1 career titles. In 2021, Kawada won two G1 races overseas with Loves Only You, in Hong Kong and the U.S., the latter making him the first Japanese jockey to win a Breeders’ Cup title (Filly & Mare Turf).

MOST VALUABLE JOCKEY

Kohei Matsuyama was the leader in combined points for wins, earnings, winning average and rides in JRA and selected NAR and overseas races, earning him the title of Most Valuable Jockey in 2023. During the year he recorded his milestone 1,100th career win (JRA races) on October 14, ranked fourth on the national leaderboard with 113 wins (six graded), marking his fourth straight year of triple-digit wins, and won two major titles in NAR racing—the JBC Ladies’ Classic (Icon Tailor) and the Hyogo Junior Grand Prix (Aigle Noir).

Born in Hyogo Prefecture, Matsuyama was a member of the junior equestrian team at Hanshin Racecourse before enrolling at the JRA Horse Racing School. He won his debut race on his 19th birthday on March 1, 2009, and also scored a second victory, becoming only the second JRA jockey-school graduate to mark two wins on his debut day, after Yuichi Fukunaga in 1996. He finished his debut year with 36 wins and was named Best Jockey (Newcomer).

Matsuyama raised his annual wins to 74 in 2012, including his first graded title in the G3 Chunichi Shimbun Hai with Smart Gear. Since then, he has ranked consistently among the top 17 jockeys, with at least 56 wins every year except 2016 (47 wins for 23rd place). He won NAR’s top sprint title, the JBC Sprint, with Corin Berry in 2015 and registered his first JRA-G1 victory with ninth-pick Al Ain in the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) in 2017.

Never lower than eighth in wins since 2018, Matsuyama rose to fourth in 2020 with 127 wins, his first time to reach triple digits. That same year he swept the fillies’ Triple Crown—the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas), the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) and the Shuka Sho—with Daring Tact, who became the first undefeated filly to do so. He added his name to the JRA record book as the fastest and youngest jockey to achieve 10,000 career rides on September 19, 2021, and he rose to third that season with a personal-best 130 wins, including his fifth G1 title, which came in the Champions Cup with T O Keynes. In 2022, Matsuyama ranked fourth with 118 wins, including nine graded titles, and scored his 1,000th JRA-career win in December.

BEST STEEPLECHASE JOCKEY

Shinichi Ishigami led all jump-race jockeys with 14 wins in 2023 to defend his title as Best Steeplechase Jockey, which he also won in 2016 and 2017. He added two graded jump titles in 2023, the Nakayama Daishogai and the Tokyo High-Jump, both with Meiner Grand, which boosted his JRA record for career graded wins (jump) to 25.

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

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

Ishigami's big break came in 2016 when he shot to the top of the national leaderboard (jump races) with 15 wins, including five grade-race victories, tying 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 win 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.

In 2022 Ishigami won his 22nd jump grade race in the Kyoto High-Jump, renewing the JRA record for most graded titles in steeplechase history, and then won the Kokura Summer Jump, becoming the first jockey to win all 10 graded titles over jumps held by the JRA. He also became the 29th jockey to reach 100 career wins over jumps in August of that year.

BEST JOCKEY (NEWCOMER)

Kanta Taguchi achieved a personal goal by winning 35 races in his first season as a JRA jockey, which secured him the JRA Award for Best Jockey (Newcomer).

Born to parents heavily involved in racing—his father a jockey-turned-trainer and mother a former jockey, both based at NAR’s Kasamatsu Racecourse—Taguchi grew up in Gifu Prefecture with hopes of becoming a professional baseball player. After being impressed by Suave Richard’s runner-up performance in the 2017 Japanese Derby, it was no surprise that he shifted his interest to racing and decided to enroll in the JRA Horse Racing School in 2020.

After graduating three years later and riding under trainer Yuki Ohashi, Taguchi scored his first career win on March 8 at NAR Kasamatsu Racecourse and then his first JRA win in his 38th start on March 26 at Hanshin Racecourse. He steadily accumulated wins in the JRA, earning his tenth victory on June 25, 20th on September 30 and 30th on December 3. He rode his first graded race aboard Kurino Majin (12th favorite, 12th place) in the Kitakyushu Kinen in August and first G1 event with New General (16th favorite, 17th place) in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in December.

Meanwhile, he notched 14 wins on the NAR circuit, including a victory at Kasamatsu in June partnered with a horse trained by his father. He also represented JRA in the Young Jockey Series, a competition for JRA and NAR apprentice jockeys, finishing second after the final round.

JRA EQUINE CULTURE AWARD

The JRA Equine Culture Award recognizes noteworthy achievements and contributions to Japanese equine culture. Nominations for the 2023 award included horse-related cultural events and publications held or published between November 2022 and October 2023.

Winner: “Epitaph: The Light Trail of Yururi”

Recipients:
Atsushi Okada