"I want to retire in Japan" Christophe Lemaire on his future career
Friday, 29 March, 2024 03:14
Christophe Lemaire (Photo: Yuki Shimono)
Netkeiba and World Horse Racing interviewed JRA jockey Christophe Lemaire on his career and his future in racing.
Lemaire is a 44-year-old French native and is currently one of the best jockeys in Japan. He made his riding debut in France in 1999 and came to Japan for the first time in 2003 under a short-term license. He instantly fell in love with Japanese racing and for the next decade he visited Japan every year under short-term licenses. He became the first foreign jockey to be registered in the JRA with a full-time license. Since then, he won the leading jockey title six times and won a total of 1844 races including 148 graded stakes.
Reflecting on his immense career, Lemaire said: "Visiting Japan with a short-term license helped me a lot when I was young. That was huge for me. It helped me to be a better jockey in Europe and I decided to spend my career in this beautiful country."
On the Japanese culture, he added: "I love the culture of respect. Everyone thinks and cares about others. This culture helped my family as well. My neighbours always helped us and were thinking about us. I felt the spirit of Zen," he added with a big smile.
Lemaire is a 44-year-old French native and is currently one of the best jockeys in Japan. He made his riding debut in France in 1999 and came to Japan for the first time in 2003 under a short-term license. He instantly fell in love with Japanese racing and for the next decade he visited Japan every year under short-term licenses. He became the first foreign jockey to be registered in the JRA with a full-time license. Since then, he won the leading jockey title six times and won a total of 1844 races including 148 graded stakes.
Reflecting on his immense career, Lemaire said: "Visiting Japan with a short-term license helped me a lot when I was young. That was huge for me. It helped me to be a better jockey in Europe and I decided to spend my career in this beautiful country."
On the Japanese culture, he added: "I love the culture of respect. Everyone thinks and cares about others. This culture helped my family as well. My neighbours always helped us and were thinking about us. I felt the spirit of Zen," he added with a big smile.