Christophe Lemaire

Christophe Lemaire
Christophe Lemaire
Occupation	Jockey
Born	20 May 1979; Gouvieux, France
Career wins	ongoing
Significant horses
	Heart's Cry, Makfi, Pride, Almond Eye

Christophe Patrice Lemaire (Japanese:クリストフ・ルメール (Kurisutofu Rumeru)) is a French-born jockey. He takes his middle name from his father, who made a name for himself in the world of French handicap racing.

In 1999 he obtained the licence required for a French jockey, and began racing. He has steadily built up a good track record, becoming the seventh leading jockey in 2003, and winning the French Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris in the same year.

In 2002 he also began racing in Japan Racing Association races using the 3-month short-term licence (短期免許, tanki menkyo) system, taking part mainly at local racecourses such as Chukyo Racecourse (中京競馬場, chūkyō keibajō) and Kokura Racecourse (小倉競馬場, kokura keibajō). He produced impressive results each year. In 2004, as a Grade I jockey, he came second in the Emperor's Cup (天皇賞, Tennōshō) (Autumn) on Dance in the Mood and second in the Japan Cup on Cosmo Bulk, and in the 2005, on Daiwa Major he came second in the Mile Championship, but did not win a grade race (重賞, jūshō) in Japan.

However, in 2005, riding Heart's Cry in the Arima Kinen, he led the race, on a horse which until then had always been content to play catch-up, and pulled off the feat of putting the first dent in the record of the year's undefeated triple winner, Deep Impact. This was his first Jūshō pattern race win at Grade I, and at the same time a new record of four consecutive wins of the same race by a foreign jockey, beating the record set by Olivier Peslier.

In 2006 he rode Heart's Cry to victory in the Dubai Sheema Classic. He also rode Pride in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, beating the favourite, Hurricane Run.

In 2008 he rode the winner of England's second classic of the year, the 1,000 Guineas, aboard the Pascal Bary trained Natagora.

In September 2009, he was chosen by the Aga Khan as first jockey.^[1]

He won the 2011 Melbourne Cup in a photo finish riding Dunaden.^[2]

After a spectacular fall on the Kyoto racetrack on Nov 30th, 2014 and an operation, Lemaire was scheduled to resume riding in Japan in March 2015, but was suspended by stewards of the Japan Racing Association (JRA) for 30 days after he used Twitter the night before he was scheduled to participate in races at Hanshin Racecourse. JRA regulations bar any outside contact by jockeys from 9 PM the night before racing until after they have ridden in their final race of the day.^[3]

In 2017, he became the first foreigner to win the championship, winning 199 races in the year. In 2018, he won Yushun Himba for the second time, on his 39th birthday.^[4] In October 2018, he rode Almond Eye to her victory at the Japan Fillies Triple Crown and won the championship for the second consecutive year, breaking Yutaka Take's long standing record for wins in a year in Japan (215 wins vs 212).^[5]^[6]

In 2019, he retained his title in Japan for the third consecutive year, winning 5 G1 races as well as the Dubai Turf, the first international G1 win of Almond Eye. In 2020, he won again the championship for the 4th consecutive time by winning a total of 204 races in JRA including 8 G1. He also established a new record of consecutive wins at the Emperor's cup (Tenno Sho Autumn) by winning this bi-annual race (spring and autumn) for the fifth consecutive time. At this occasion and under Lemaire's guidance, Almond Eye became the japanese horse with most G1 wins (8 in Japan and 1 international). At the end of 2020 season, Christophe Lemaire was ranked world number 1 in the TRC Global Jockey Ranking, taking the lead from legendary Frankie Dettori^[7]

Major wins[]

Australia

Melbourne Cup - (1) - Dunaden (2011)

France

Grand Prix de Paris - (1) - Vespone (2003)
Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud - (2) - Pride (2006), Sarafina (2011)
Poule d'Essai des Pouliches - (3) - Divine Proportions (2005), Elusive Wave (2009), Flotilla (2013)
Prix d'Astarté - (1) - Divine Proportions (2005)
Prix de Diane - (3) - Divine Proportions (2005), Stacelita (2009), Sarafina (2010)
Prix d'Ispahan - (1) - Never on Sunday (2009)
Prix Jean Prat - (1) - Vespone (2003)
Prix du Jockey Club - (1) - Le Havre (2009)
Prix Marcel Boussac - (2) - Denebola (2003), Divine Proportions (2004)
Prix Morny - (1) - Divine Proportions (2004)
Prix du Moulin de Longchamp - (1) - Starcraft (2005)
Prix Royal-Oak - (1) - Gentoo (2010)
Prix Saint-Alary - (4) - Coquerelle (2007), Belle et Celebre (2008), Stacelita (2009), Sagawara (2012)
Prix Vermeille - (2) - Stacelita (2009), Shareta (2012)

Great Britain

1,000 Guineas - (1) - Natagora (2008)
2,000 Guineas - (1) - Makfi (2010)
Champion Stakes - (2) - Pride (2006), Literato (2007)
Cheveley Park Stakes - (1) - Natagora (2007)
King's Stand Stakes - (1) - Chineur (2005)
Queen Elizabeth II Stakes - (1) - Starcraft (2005)
Sun Chariot Stakes - (1) - Sahpresa (2011)
Yorkshire Oaks - (1) - Shareta (2012)

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Cup - (1) - Pride (2006)

Japan (the JRA)

Arima Kinen - (2) - Heart's Cry (2005), Satono Diamond (2016)
Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup - (2) - Little Amapola (2008), Lucky Lilac (2020)
Champions Cup (former Japan Cup Dirt) - (2) - Kane Hekili (2008), Belshazzar (2013)
Japan Cup - (3) - Vodka (2009), Almond Eye (2018), Almond Eye (2020)
Hanshin Juvenile Fillies - (2) - Major Emblem (2015), Soul Stirring (2016)
NHK Mile Cup - (2) - Major Emblem (2016), Schnell Meister (2021)
Kikuka-shō - (2) - Satono Diamond (2016), Fierement (2018)
Victoria Mile - (3) - Admire Lead (2017), Almond Eye (2020), Gran Alegria (2021)
Tokyo Yūshun - (1) - Rey de Oro (2017)
Yushun Himba - (2) - Soul Stirring (2017), Almond Eye (2018)
Shuka Sho - (2) - Deirdre (2017), Almond Eye (2018)
Oka Sho - (2) - Almond Eye (2018), Gran Alegria (2019)
Yasuda Kinen - (1) - Mozu Ascot (2018)
Tenno Sho (Autumn) - (3) - Rey de Oro (2018), Almond Eye (2019), Almond Eye (2020)
Japan Breeding farms' Cup Sprint (held by the JRA) - (1) - (2018)
Satsuki Sho - (1) - Saturnalia (2019)
Tenno Sho (Spring) - (2) - Fierement (2019), Fierement (2020)
February Stakes - (2) - Mozu Ascot (2020), Cafe Pharoah (2021)
Sprinters Stakes - (2) - Tower of London (2019), Gran Alegria (2020)
Mile Championship - (1) - Gran Alegria (2020)
Takarazuka Kinen - (1) - Chrono Genesis (2021)