AS ALWAYS, LEMAIRE WILL BE UP FOR THE CHALLENGE

By Darren Winningham | Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Christophe Lemaire comes to the LONGINES International Jockeys Championship in amazing form. He is based in Japan and posted 119 wins in the season.

He returns to ride at the LONGINES IJC after a seven-year absence from the tournament. He won the title in 2009 when he shared the title with John Murtagh and Ryan Moore.

I managed to catch up with him at the IJC press conference, he said regarding the victory in 2009, “it is a long time ago, but I'm still young and still excited to ride, still excited to ride tomorrow. It's going to be a tough challenge, but yeah, against these wonderful jockeys, I will do my best.”

He is confident about his horse allocation as well. “I am quite happy with my picks. Very consistent horses. Horses who like Happy Valley used to run on that track and ride for two big trainers, John Size and David Hayes. So yeah, I'm quite confident to grab some places”.

He finished off by telling me, “Riding at Happy Valley pushes you to produce your best,” he said. “It’s an iconic place and a real challenge every time.”

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