2016 WORLD ALL-STAR JOCKEYS The World All-Star Jockeys (WASJ) is an international event launched by the Japan Racing Association. Formerly called the World Super Jockeys Series since its establishment in 1987, it has welcomed more than 200 top-caliber jockeys from Europe, North America, Oceania and Asia and held over two days in late November or early December at either Tokyo or Hanshin Racecourse. The event was given a new title, and was moved to the last weekend of August and to Sapporo Racecourse in northern Japan last year. This year’s event welcomes six outstanding jockeys from France, the United States, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada in joining one NAR (National Association of Racing; local public racing) jockey and seven JRA jockeys in their bid for the title. A team competition has been added to the regular individual contest beginning last year, in which the overseas and NAR jockeys will form “Team WAS (World All-Star)” and compete against “Team JRA” to attain the most points as a team. The first two of the four-race series will be conducted on August 27th (Sat), while the third and fourth will be held the following day (Sun). 2015 World All-Star Jockeys (closing ceremony) August 2016 The Japan Racing Association 1 The 2016 World All-Star Jockeys 1. Date Saturday, August 27, 2016 Sunday, August 28, 2016 2. Venue Sapporo Racecourse 3. Races Saturday, August 27 9th race : 2016 World All-Star Jockeys First Leg Three-Year-Olds & Up, Allowance (5Million & Less) turf, 2,600 meters (about 13 furlongs) 11th race : 2016 World All-Star Jockeys Second Leg Three-Year-Olds & Up, Allowance (16Million & Less) turf, 2,000 meters (about 10 furlongs) Sunday, August 28 10th race : 2016 World All-Star Jockeys Third Leg Three-Year-Olds & Up, Allowance (10Million & Less) turf, 1,200 meters (about 6 furlongs) 12th race : 2016 World All-Star Jockeys Fourth Leg Three-Year-Olds & Up, Allowance (10Million & Less) turf, 1,800 meters (about 9 furlongs) 4. Jockeys a. The JRA will invite a total of six overseas jockeys. b. The JRA will choose the NAR jockey and one substitute based on recommendations from the NAR by July 26. c. Seven JRA affiliated jockeys obtaining the following status will be chosen in that order. Excluding the Derby winner, the remaining jockeys will be selected equally from the Eastern (Miho Training Center-based) and Western (Ritto Training Center-based) district. 1) Winning jockey of the 2016 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) 2) 2015 JRA Award Most Valuable Jockey winner 3) Leading jockeys (from January 1 to July 24), one each from the Eastern and the Western district 4) The rest will be chosen according to the most outstanding achievements this season (in the 2 absence of such candidates, participants will be chosen by rankings) d. In the following cases, replacements will be chosen from JRA jockeys by rankings Overseas or NAR jockey cancelling participation after August 20 JRA jockey cancelling participation after the mounts are drawn 5. Drawing for Mounts Wednesday, August 24, at Ritto Training Center, Shiga Prefecture 6. Points to Determine Winner (Individual) The jockey who earns the most points in the four races will be declared the World All-Star Jockeys winner. If a jockey is unable to ride due to scratching or other reasons beyond their control, they will be awarded six points. Any jockey who fails to finish will attain the same points as the last-place finisher in that race. No point is awarded for disqualifications, in which the jockey is at fault. 1st : 30 points 2nd : 20 points 3rd : 15 points 4th : 12 points 5th : 10 points 6th : 08 points 7th : 06 points 8th : 04 points 9th : 02 points 10th : 01 point 11th : 01 point 12th : 01 point 13th : 01 point 14th : 01 point Note: In the case of a dead-heat, each dead-heat finisher will receive full points. 7. Awards a. The top three jockeys will receive the following awards: 1st : ¥ 3 million (about US$ 25,000) & trophy valued at ¥ 300,000 (about US$ 2,500) 2nd : ¥ 2 million (about US$ 16,700) 3rd : ¥ 1 million (about US$ 08,300) Note: US$1 = ¥120 b. The participants will also form two teams—the overseas and NAR jockeys will compete the JRA jockeys—and the team with the most points attained in total will be awarded prizes (each team member will earn ¥200,000 (about US$1,670)). In the occasion of a tie, the team that has more jockeys with higher placings in the races will be determined as the winner. *1 The season records of the overseas jockeys are as of July 31 and that of the NAR jockey is as of July 12. *2 The season records of the JRA jockeys are as of July 24 and include NAR and overseas mounts designated by the JRA. However, career records in data and in context cover JRA races only unless otherwise specified. *3 NAR=National Association of Racing (local public racing) *4 “Participation in the WASJ” includes participations in the World Super Jockeys Series 3 FRANCE Cristian Demuro Date of Birth : July 8, 1992 ’15 Season Record : 735 mounts, 66 wins / € 2,047,455 ’16 Season Record : 557 mounts, 60 wins / € 2,896,260 Recent Career Highlights : ’16 Grand Prix de Paris (G1, Mont Ormel) ’16 Prix de Diane (G1, La Cressonniere) ’16 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (G1, La Cressonniere) Participation in the WASJ : 1st Cristian Demuro, already a well-known figure in Japan as a frequent rider here and as the younger brother to Mirco Demuro, is enjoying a successful season in France where he relocated two years ago. He is currently ranked fourth in the jockey rankings. His major achievements this year include two classic titles for fillies and mares—the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (G1) and the Prix de Diane (G1)—with La Cressonniere and the Grand Prix de Paris (G1) title with longshot Mont Ormel. The 24-year-old up-and-coming jockey will confront his brother in the World All-Star Jockeys this year. Born in Rome, Italy, Cristian grew up in a racing family—not only his brother but his father and sister are also former jockeys—and started riding horses when he was 12 years old. He made his debut on May 6, 2009 and immediately registered his first win the next day. Finishing his debut year with 45 wins and ranked 30th, his breakthrough came the following year after moving to the stable of Allevamento La Nuova Sbarra, as his ranking surged to second with 153 victories. He continued to accumulate victories, climbing to the top with 222 wins in 2011, and retained the title the following year with a record-high 269 wins. Cristian rode for the first time in Japan when he acquired NAR’s short-term license between January and March 2011, and has also been riding in JRA races every year since. He registered his first G1 title in the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) on board Ayusan in April 2013, with his brother Mirco coming in second, to become the first brothers in JRA history to mark a 1-2 finish in a JRA-G1 race. He has won 99 out of 693 starts at JRA, which include five grade-race titles, while also claiming two NAR graded titles. Focusing on racing abroad during 2013, he succumbed to 17th with 50 wins in Italy, which included the Gran Premio di Milano (G1) with Biz the Nurse. Due to the confusion of the Italian horseracing circle in line with the staggering economy, he relocated his base to France in 2014. He was ranked 27th with 45 wins that year and improved to 18th with 66 wins in 2015. He also continues to ride in Italy, ranking 29th with 34 wins in 2014 and 27th with 31 wins in 2015 while claiming six Italian graded titles, one of them being the 2015 Derby Italiano (G2) with Goldstream. 4 JAPAN (JRA, Ritto Training Center) Yasunari Iwata Date of Birth : March 12, 1974 ’16 Season Record : 561 mounts, 53 wins / ¥ 953,956,000 Career Record : 10,407 mounts, 1,353 wins Recent Career Highlights : ’15 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, G1, Let’s Go Donki) ’15 Nikkei Sho (G2, Admire Deus) Participation in the WASJ : 11th Replacing American participant Victor Espinoza, Yasunari Iwata is aiming for his second JRA international jockeys competition champion title in his 11th challenge this year. The former NAR jockey is in the midst of his 11th season in JRA and although just out of reach of a grade-race win so far this year, the veteran jockey has steadily established himself a prominent figure exceeding 100 annual wins continuously for the past nine years. Iwata started his career in 1991 as an NAR jockey and quickly became one of the top jockeys at Sonoda Racecourse in Hyogo prefecture. He was champion jockey in the Hyogo district in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2005, during which he reached his 3,000th career win. His ambition expanded to the JRA where he became the first NAR jockey to capture a classic title in 2004, in the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1) with Delta Blues. He finally transferred his license to the JRA in 2006. The Melbourne Cup (G1) victory with Delta Blues in his first overseas campaign highlighted his first JRA season. Since then, he has claimed numerous titles with gifted mounts such as Admire Moon, Vodka, Victoire Pisa, Buena Vista, Lord Kanaloa and Gentildonna, and has so far registered 22 G1 titles among a total of 83 grade-race wins in JRA.