{"id":365289,"date":"2025-08-22T18:30:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T18:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/365289\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T18:30:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T18:30:16","slug":"francisco-leandro-bound-for-the-world-all-star-jockeys-in-sapporo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/365289\/","title":{"rendered":"Francisco Leandro Bound for the World All-Star Jockeys in Sapporo"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brazilian Jockey Will Take Part in This Weekend\u2019s Jockeys\u2019 Tournament in Japan Alongside Other Riding Stars<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Jockeys Competing in the 2025 World All Star Jockeys During the Official Presentation<\/strong> <\/strong>\/ JRA<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Time: Francisco Leandro Set for World All Star Jockeys Debut in Japan<\/strong><\/p>\n

The wait is over. In the early hours of Saturday (Argentina time), the 2025\u00a0World All Star Jockeys<\/strong>\u00a0will get underway at Sapporo Racecourse in Japan, with a South America-based rider taking part for the very first time: Brazilian ace\u00a0Francisco Leandro<\/strong>, the longtime leading jockey in Argentina.<\/p>\n

The South American standout will line up alongside some of the world\u2019s biggest names, including\u00a0Alexis Badel<\/strong>\u00a0(Hong Kong),\u00a0Thore Hammer-Hansen<\/strong>\u00a0(Germany),\u00a0Karis Teetan<\/strong>\u00a0(Hong Kong),\u00a0Cristian Torres<\/strong>\u00a0(United States),\u00a0Craig Williams<\/strong>\u00a0(Australia), and French-based rider\u00a0Christophe Clement<\/strong>, as well as local stars\u00a0Yutaka Take<\/strong>,\u00a0Ryusei Sakai<\/strong>,\u00a0Yuichi Kitamura<\/strong>,\u00a0Masashige Honda<\/strong>,\u00a0Keita Tosaki<\/strong>,\u00a0Norihiro Yokoyama<\/strong>, and\u00a0Takeshi Yokoyama<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The competition will be decided over four races, with points determining the overall champion. Prize money will be $20,000 to the winner, $13,330 to the runner-up, and $6,670 to third, with each ride also earning $3,330 plus standard commissions.<\/p>\n

Leandro is booked for four mounts Saturday and another five Sunday. The Brazilian expressed both gratitude and excitement for the opportunity:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI\u2019m extremely thankful for the invitation to come to Japan for the first time. I\u2019m very happy and I hope it will be a wonderful event for both the jockeys and the fans. I\u2019ve never ridden here, so I\u2019m very excited. I want to give my best.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When asked about his riding style, he added:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI always ride with respect for the horse. If I can keep a horse comfortable in rhythm, I think it will respond better in the stretch\u2014that\u2019s my way. I\u2019ve never competed in Asia, but I do have experience in Dubai and Saudi Arabia. I didn\u2019t talk to or receive advice from\u00a0Joao Moreira<\/strong>, but I\u2019ve always admired him greatly\u2014he\u2019s been my idol since I started. Turf or dirt, it depends on the horse, but personally I prefer turf.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Moreira (2015 and 2023) and\u00a0Eurico da Silva<\/strong>\u00a0(2017) both lifted the trophy in past editions, though neither was based in South America at the time.<\/p>\n

In Saturday\u2019s first leg of the World All Star Jockeys, a turf maiden over 1200 meters, Leandro will partner\u00a0Maru Piru<\/strong>(Mikki Isle), quoted at 17.5\/1. In the second leg, a 2000-meter turf event, he will ride\u00a0Sumi<\/strong>\u00a0(Leontes), listed at 11\/1.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, his assignments include\u00a0Muffin<\/strong>\u00a0(Mikki Isle) in a 1700-meter dirt allowance, where expectations are modest, before closing out with\u00a0Lord Mannheim<\/strong>\u00a0(Lord Kanaloa) in an 1800-meter turf allowance\u2014his strongest chance, having finished runner-up over the same course and distance last out.<\/p>\n

First held in 1987, the World All Star Jockeys has seen the likes of\u00a0Cash Asmussen<\/strong>,\u00a0Yutaka Take<\/strong>,\u00a0Jerry Bailey<\/strong>,\u00a0Olivier Peslier<\/strong>,\u00a0Ioritz Mendizabal<\/strong>,\u00a0Ryan Moore<\/strong>,\u00a0Johnny Murtagh<\/strong>,\u00a0Zac Purton<\/strong>,\u00a0Mirco Demuro<\/strong>,\u00a0Craig Williams<\/strong>, and\u00a0Richard Hughes<\/strong>\u00a0among its past champions.<\/p>\n

Can Leandro add his name to that illustrious roll? The numbers suggest it will be a formidable task, but in racing, anything can happen. Just by competing, he has already made history. For South American racing, his participation is a point of pride on the global stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brazilian Jockey Will Take Part in This Weekend\u2019s Jockeys\u2019 Tournament in Japan Alongside Other Riding Stars The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-365289","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115073844816655078","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}