Ryusei Sakai (, born May 31, 1997) is a Japanese
jockey
A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...
.
Background
Ryusei Sakai was born in 1997 to , a jockey and later
trainer of
Oi Racecourse. He enrolled in in 2013 to earn his jockey license, before graduating in 2016.
Even before graduation, he apprenticed under
Yoshito Yahagi, who, like Sakai, has ties to Oi Racecourse. After being issued his jockey license, he became the Yahagi stable's official jockey.
Career
After debuting in March 2016, Sakai won his first race with Grand Prix Accel at a maiden race held at
Hanshin Racecourse
is located in Takarazuka, Hyogo, Japan. It has a capacity of 139,000 and is used for horse racing. The land was originally owned by Kawanishi Aircraft Company, which manufactured combat planes during World War II. After World War II, GHQ orde ...
on April 2, 2016. Two weeks later, he was taken out of the races for a month following a racing accident involving 4 horses including his own which resulted in him breaking one of his
ribs
The rib cage or thoracic cage is an endoskeletal enclosure in the thorax of most vertebrates that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum, which protect the vital organs of the thoracic cavity, such as the heart, lungs and great vessels ...
. In spite of this, he was able to win the most races of any rookie jockies in the Ritto Training Center.
Sakai raced in Australia from late 2017 to 2018 to improve his riding skills.
The 2020
Japan Dirt Derby, with , was the first Grade I race Sakai won.
Sakai won his first JRA Grade I race with
Stunning Rose in the 2022
Shuka Sho, where they defeated
Stars on Earth, who was the favourite for race. Sakai then went on to win his second JRA Grade I race in a year with when they won the
Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes.
In February 2023, Sakai won the
February Stakes with
Lemon Pop. He and the horse would go on to win the
Mile Championship Nambu Hai as well as the
Champions Cup later that year. He would also win the JBC Nisai Yushun and the
Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun with
Forever Young.
Following their consecutive wins at that year's
Saudi and
UAE Derbies, Sakai and Forever Young headed to the
2024 Kentucky Derby, where they were beaten by
Mystik Dan and
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
in a
photo finish
A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the fini ...
and finished third.
Major wins
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
*
Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes - (1) - ''Dolce More (2022)''
*
Champions Cup - (1) - ''
Lemon Pop (2023, 2024)''
*
February Stakes - (1) - ''Lemon Pop (2024)''
* Japan Breeding Farms' Cup Nisai Yushun - (1) - ''
Forever Young (2023)''
*
Japan Dirt Classic - (1) - ''Forever Young (2024)''
*
Japan Dirt Derby - (1) - ''Danon Pharaoh (2020)''
*
Mile Championship Nambu Hai - (2) - ''Lemon Pop (2023, 2024)''
*
Sakitama Hai - (1) - ''Lemon Pop (2024)''
*
Shuka Sho - (1) - ''
Stunning Rose (2022)''
*
Takamatsunomiya Kinen
The is a Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan for four-year-old and above thoroughbreds. It is run over a distance of 1,200 metres (approximately 6 furlongs) at Chukyo Racecourse in late March.
The forerunner of this race was the . It was started ...
- (1) - ''Mad Cool (2024)''
*
Tokyo Daishōten
The Tokyo Daishōten (東京大賞典) is a Japanese horse race on dirt track for thoroughbreds three years old and above. It is run over a distance of 2,000 meters (about 10 furlongs) at Ōi Racecourse in Shinagawa, Tokyo in December.
History ...
- (1) - ''Forever Young (2024)''
*
Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun - (1) - ''Forever Young (2023)''
KSA
*
Saudi Cup - (1) - ''Forever Young (2025)''
References
External links
*
*
1997 births
Japanese jockeys
Living people
Sportspeople from Tokyo
{{Horseracing-bio-stub