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Joao Moreira wins this year’s WASJ.
Joao Moreira captured his second World All-Star Jockeys champion title this year following his first title in 2015. Moreira accumulated points by finishing a close second with race favorite Courteous Manner in the first leg and an eighth with 11th pick Rouge Arles in the second leg to finish fifth with 24 points at the end of Day One. He then marked a fifth on board third choice Sam Hunter in the third leg and won the last leg with third pick Ezo Daimon on Day Two to collect 64 points overall.
"I'm very happy to be the champion again. I came here this year to enjoy the event. I was especially happy to be able to ride a great horse in the last leg—I didn't have confidence, but I was ready to take on the challenge, and the horse gave a great performance. I'm very happy to be able to race with great jockeys from Japan and other countries, and I am grateful to the fans whose support gave me strength."
Nine points behind in second was Yutaka Take, two-time champion winner in 1992 and 2022, who was tied ninth with 10 points at the end of Day One with an eighth and a seventh in the first two legs but added 45 points on Day Two by winning the third leg with ninth pick T Up Leon and finishing a close third with seventh pick Amai in the fourth leg.
"I'm happy to be able to participate in the series again this year. I enjoy riding each race, and I can feel that this event is getting a lot of attention from the fans. I didn't think I would be able to win the champion title because I was ninth at the end of the first day, but I did my best. If I have the chance to participate in the series again, I will do my best to become the champion again."
Ryusei Sakai, though failing to finish due to a fall in the third leg, accumulated 51 points by finishing third in the first two legs and marking a runner-up effort in the fourth leg to come in third.
"I was able to come in third in the first two legs and had a very good horse in the last leg so I really wanted to win the race and become the champion. I've improved from last year's ninth, so I would like to do better next year."
Team JRA claimed the team competition with a comfortable 237 points to claim its eighth consecutive title while Team WAS collected 216 points.
2024 WORLD ALL-STAR JOCKEYS POINT CHART
| Standing | Jockey | Team | August 24, 2024 | August 25, 2024 | Total Points | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Leg | 2nd Leg | 3rd Leg | 4th Leg | ||||||||
| 1 | Joao Moreira (BRZ) | WAS | 2nd | (20) | 8th | (4) | 5th | (10) | 1st | (30) | 64 |
| 2 | Yutaka Take | JRA | 8th | (4) | 7th | (6) | 1st | (30) | 3rd | (15) | 55 |
| 3 | Ryusei Sakai | JRA | 3rd | (15) | 3rd | (15) | FF | (1) | 2nd | (20) | 51 |
| 4 | Christophe Lemaire | JRA | 14th | (1) | 1st | (30) | 8th | (4) | 5th | (10) | 45 |
| 5 | Karis Teetan (HK) | WAS | 1st | (30) | 11th | (1) | 9th | (2) | 6th | (8) | 41 |
| 5 | Kohei Matsuyama | JRA | 6th | (8) | 2nd | (20) | 4th | (12) | 11th | (1) | 41 |
| 7 | Damian Lane (AUS) | WAS | 4th | (12) | 4th | (12) | 7th | (6) | 10th | (1) | 31 |
| 8 | Chak Yiu Ho (HK) | WAS | 5th | (10) | 14th | (1) | 12th | (1) | 4th | (12) | 24 |
| 9 | Delphine Santiago (FR) | WAS | 7th | (6) | 5th | (10) | 11th | (1) | 7th | (6) | 23 |
| 9 | Norihiro Yokoyama | JRA | 10th | (1) | 12th | (1) | 2nd | (20) | 14th | (1) | 23 |
| 11 | Tomohiro Yoshimura (NAR) | WAS | 12th | (1) | 13th | (1) | 3rd | (15) | 8th | (4) | 21 |
| 12 | Tadhg O'Shea (UAE) | WAS | 13th | (1) | 9th | (2) | 6th | (8) | 13th | (1) | 12 |
| 12 | Keita Tosaki | JRA | 9th | (2) | 6th | (8) | 10th | (1) | 12th | (1) | 12 |
| 14 | Yuga Kawada | JRA | 11th | (1) | 10th | (1) | ER | (6) | 9th | (2) | 10 |
| Team WAS (World All-Star) : 216 points | Team JRA : 237 points | ||||||||||
*1st: 30 points / 2nd: 20 points / 3rd: 15 points / 4th: 12 points / 5th: 10 points / 6th: 8 points / 7th: 6 points / 8th: 4 points / 9th: 2 points / 10th: 1 point / 11th: 1 point / 12th: 1 point / 13th: 1 point / 14th: 1 point / ER= Excluded from running (by stewards): 6 points
FF=Fail to Finish: 1 point
Turnover for the Day: ¥13,381,555,500 Attendance: 17,525