FRENCHMAN Christophe Lemaire arrived at Tokyo racecourse on Sunday, November 6th with a book of 10 rides on the 12 race card.

He went on to partner eight winners accompanied by a second and a fourth place finish. In doing so, he equalled the record of most wins in a day, which had been previously held by superstar Japanese jockey Yutake Take.

Lemaire has enjoyed a hugely successful 2016 season, having already tasted top-flight victories in the Kikuka Sho and The NHK Mile this year.

Success

This season to date, he has ridden 158 winners from 678 rides in the JRA (23.4%) and incredibly he can boast a 49.9% success rate of top three finishers from those rides.

This is all the more impressive considering that many races in the JRA have between 16 and 18 runners.

This record haul at Tokyo has added further excitement to the leading jockeys’ championship in Japan.

Lemaire now sits in second position just three wins behind reigning champion, Keita Tosaki. This is despite having ridden in 166 races fewer than the current front-runner as we approach the final six weeks of the season.