Horse racing Jockey Norihiro Yokoyama Shatters Records After Clinching G3 Keihai Cup

The horse racing industry has seen a culmination of marveling stories dedicated to the names and numbers of horse records. A number less to the seconds and a number more to the wins have narrated stories of significance in the industry. This time around, the community stands to witness yet another instance, inclusive of numbers, however, only this time, it belongs to 55-year-old jockey Norihiro Yokoyama.

Norihiro Yokoyama has grown to be a renowned name in the Japanese horse racing scenes. The 55-year-old has remained in the industry for well over 38 years, witnessing impressive numbers added to his name. On Sunday, the 14th, he stood to collect the second record within a year under the Japan Racing Association.

Norihiro Yokoyama impresses horse racing spectators

“Who is the oldest jockey to win a graded stakes race worldwide?“ World Horse Racing added excitedly on Jan 16th on X. The post arrived two days after Norihiro Yokoyama’s win in G3 Keisei Hai. Confirming the news, the post further added, “Norihiro Yokoyama (横山典弘) became the oldest jockey to win a JRA stakes race last weekend, winning the G3 Keihai Cup on Danon Decile aged 55 years, 325 days!” 

The 55-year-old rode atop Danon Decile for a 3/4 length victory at the Nakayama Racecourse. The duo left behind Urban Chic and Cosmo Buddleja for a winning time of 2:00.5. Moreover, while the finish recorded the first graded stakes victory for Danon Decile, it also led Norihiro Yokoyama to break his own record of being the oldest to win a JRA graded stakes.

Records back-to-back for the jockey

A couple of months ago, on September 9th, 2023, aged 55 and about 196 days, Norihiro Yokoyama broke the same record as of today. Shion Stakes, a Shuka Sho trial at Nakayama, was the course for the jockey to attain his feat. Yokoyama rode atop the fourth favorite, Moryana, in a field of 17. The duo raced to put behind the finest on the field and clinch the jockey’s milestone by half a length victory. Interestingly, that wasn’t all to the story. Behind Yokoyama, in the second position, was the jockey’s son, Takeshi. While the former earned a total of 120 points, Takeshi took home 100. 

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 “She has been a very talented filly… She is still a young filly and has a lot of good qualities, so I hope she progresses safely from here,” Yokoyama had said. While the horse recorded its first G2 victory and went on to fetch an entry at G1 Shuka Sho, the jockey added one more win to his 2,938 victories. With 39 years in the horse racing industry, Yokoyama holds career earnings of 70.6M. the numbers earned the jockey a 2nd spot in 2023 Top 10 highest earning jockeys.

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