Japanese Jockey Yutaka Take Achieves 5,000th Career Victory

Hakodate, Hokkaido, July 13 (Jiji Press)–Yutaka Take, a veteran jockey at the Japan Racing Association, has scored his 5,000th career victory, including in domestic races managed by local governments and races abroad. The 57-year-old finished first aboard Himino Etoile, a 4-year-old filly, in Sunday’s seventh JRA race at the Hakodate Racecourse in the city of Hakodate, Hokkaido, northernmost Japan. “I competed in races in various places and reached the milestone as I continued efforts, so I has a deep emotion (about this),” he said. Of the 5,000 victories, Take, known for his sophisticated riding skills, won 4,669 races managed by the JRA, which is fully owned by the central government, 212 local government-managed races in Japan and 119 races abroad. Take, whose late father, Kunihiko was also a jockey as well as a horse trainer, made his debut in 1987. Riding Super Creek, Take won the Kikuka Show, a JRA race, in 1988, marking his first victory in a Grade 1 major race. In 1990, he led Oguri Cap to a victory in the JRA’s Arima Kinen, the super-popular thoroughbred’s final race before retirement. In 2005, Take won the triple crown of classic thoroughbred races in Japan with Deep Impact, which thus became the second undefeated horse to achieve the feat. His younger brother, Koshiro, was a jockey and is now a horse trainer. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]