Racecourse Experience

Horse Racing

Football

Membership

Charities & Community

About HKJC

C Lemaire

Other Jockeys

Lemaire, Christophe
Age: 46
Background:
Christophe Lemaire leapt to prominence in 2004 thanks to his partnership with the brilliant French champion filly Divine Proportions and two years later he rode the crack mare Pride to win the Champion Stakes and Hong Kong Cup. Other top-class winners in those days include Stacelita, Makfi, Flotilla and Elusive Wave, while Dunaden carried him to a 2011 Melbourne Cup win. His first Japanese major came a few years earlier aboard Heart’s Cry in the 2005 Arima Kinen and the duo took the 2006 Dubai Sheema Classic. Star mare Vodka’s Japan Cup – one of four wins for Lemaire in the race – is also among his 60-plus Group 1 wins to date. In early 2015, he and Mirco Demuro became the first overseas riders to be granted full-time jockey licences in Japan. In 2016, he equalled the record of the great Yutaka Take for the most wins at a single Japanese race meeting with eight victories. In 2017, he became the first foreigner to be crowned Japan’s leading jockey, winning 199 Japan Racing Association (JRA) races. In 2023, he not only won the JRA Championship but also broke the record in terms of prize money. In that year he won four Group 1 races aboard legendary galloper Equinox. He became the first jockey to win the Kikuka Sho three years in a row in 2025. He also won the 2025 Shuka Sho with Embroidery and Tenno Sho Autumn with Masquerade Ball. His other three Japan Cup wins came atop Almond Eye (2018 & 2019) and Equinox (2023). In 2025, he finished with 140 wins, claiming the JRA Championship for the third consecutive year and the eighth time in his riding career.
Achievements:
JRA Champion Jockey for Races Won (2017-21, 2023, 2024 & 2025); International Jockeys’ Championship winner (2009 [DH]).
Notable Wins include:
Hong Kong Cup (2006 Pride), Japan Cup (2009 Vodka, 2018 & 2020 Almond Eye, 2023 Equinox), Melbourne Cup (2011 Dunaden), Tenno Sho Spring (2019 & 2020 Fierement, 2023 Justin Palace), Tenno Sho Autumn (2018 Rey de Oro, 2019 & 2020 Almond Eye, 2022 & 2023 Equinox, 2025 Masquerade Ball), Tokyo Yushun (2017 Rey de Oro), Yushun Himba (2017 Soul Stirring, 2018 Almond Eye, 2022 Stars On Earth, 2024 Cervinia), Arima Kinen (2005 Heart’s Cry, 2016 Satono Diamond, 2022 Equinox), Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup (2008 Little Amapola, 2020 Lucky Lilac, 2023 Brede Weg), Champions Cup (2008 Kane Hekili, 2013 Belshazzar), Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (2015 Major Emblem, 2016 Soul Stirring), NHK Mile Cup (2016 Major Emblem, 2021 Schnell Meister), Kikuka Sho (2016 Satono Diamond, 2018 Fierement, 2023 Durezza, 2024 Urban Chic, 2025 Energico), Victoria Mile (2017 Admire Lead, 2020 Almond Eye, 2021 Gran Alegria, 2025 Ascoli Piceno), Shuka Sho (2017 Deirdre, 2018 Almond Eye, 2024 Cervinia, 2025 Embroidery), Oka Sho (2018 Almond Eye, 2019 Gran Alegria), Yasuda Kinen (2018 Mozu Ascot), Satsuki Sho (2019 Saturnalia), February Stakes (2020 Mozu Ascot, 2021 Cafe Pharoah, 2026 Costa Nova), Sprinters Stakes (2019 Tower Of London, 2020 Gran Alegria), Mile Championship (2020 Gran Alegria), Takarazuka Kinen (2021 Chrono Genesis, 2023 Equinox), Hopeful Stakes (2016 Rey de Oro, 2023 Regaleira), Takamatsunomiya Kinen (2026 Satono Reve). Dubai Sheema Classic (2006 Heart’s Cry, 2023 Equinox), Dubai Turf (2019 Almond Eye).
Hong Kong wins (as of 8 April):
6

25/26 Season         Up to Race Meeting of 22/04/2026
Nationality : FR No. of Wins : 0 Total Rides : 8
Stakes won : $1,656,680 No. of 2nds : 0 Win % : 0.00%
No. of Wins in past 10 race days : 0 No. of 3rds : 1
No. of 4ths : 0

Previous Season

Other Jockeys