Japan: Christophe Lemaire has been called up to partner Japan’s latest Kentucky Derby challenger Crown Pride at Churchill Downs on May 7.
Lemaire, who has been the Japan Racing Association’s champion jockey for the last five years, will be having his first ride in America’s greatest race.
Crown Pride, owned and bred by Teruya Yoshida and trained by Koichi Shintani, secured a start in the Kentucky Derby after landing the UAE Derby under Australian jockey Damian Lane.
Shintani, quoted by Hochi News, said he had been told by Yoshida in Dubai that he had chosen Lemaire for Crown Pride, who has already arrived at Churchill Downs.
Lemaire, 42, is without question one of the world’s leading riders. A former #1 on TRC Global Rankings, he currently stands at #7.
Lemaire was aboard another runner in Dubai but will get the chance to add his international haul next month, having already bagged four Group prizes at the Saudi Cup meeting and landed the Dubai Gold Cup at Meydan on Stay Foolish.
Japanese stables are in the midst of a golden period of international success which began in Del Mar last November last year when Marche Lorraine and Loves Only You delivered the nation’s first Breeders’ Cup successes.
In addition to four winners in Riyadh, there were five Japanese winners on the Dubai World Cup card; they also won two races at the Hong Kong International meeting in December.
Success in the Kentucky Derby has so far eluded them with Japan’s first runner in the race, Ski Captain, finishing 14th in 1995. Lani was ninth in 2016 and Master Fencer sixth in 2019.
Lemaire, however, is no stranger to success in the US, having won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf on Flotilla and the Secretariat Stakes on Bayrir, both in 2012.
UAE Derby runner-up Summer Is Tomorrow, 2¾ lengths behind Crown Pride at Meydan, is also set to run at Churchill Downs for UAE champion trainer-elect Bhupat Seemar. Azure Coast, the UAE 2,000 Guineas winner, was also among horses made eligible for the Triple Crown at the recent $6,000 late nomination stage.
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