FRAN Berry and Shane Foley’s short-term licences to ride in Japan have expired, bringing to an end successful stints for both jockeys.

Berry, no stranger to riding in Japan, has just completed his sixth consecutive year as a short-term licence holder. He got off to the best possible start to this year’s campaign by winning on his first ride in public at Nakayama racecourse on January 5th. He went on to register a total of 13 winners from 94 rides, equating to a near 15% strike rate.

He can also boast a more impressive 33% record of finishing in the first three and earned a total prize pool of 217,000,000 yen (€1,750,000). Berry now has a total of 79 career victories in Japan.

The Irishman’s only blemish was his suspension for two weekends’ racing for what was deemed as careless riding, essentially putting out of reach any hope of posting a similar number of wins to that of 2015 (19 winners).

Foley, in his first spell riding in Japan, finished with 10 winners from 123 rides (8%), the most notable of which was victory on-board the Harbinger colt Prophet in the Group 3 Keisei Hai at Nakayama. He returns home with total winnings of 193,000,000 yen (€1,550,000).