Ryusei Sakai

Ryusei Sakai (坂井瑠星, born May 31, 1997) is a Japanese jockey.

Background
Ryusei Sakai was born in 1997 to, a jockey and later trainer of Oi Racecourse. He enrolled in the in 2013 to earn his jockey license, before graduating in 2016.

Even before graduation, he apprenticed under Yoshito Yahagi, who, like Sakai, has ties to Oi Racecourse. After being issued his jockey license, he became the Yahagi stable's official jockey.

Career
After debuting in March 2016, Sakai won his first race with Grand Prix Accel at a maiden race held at Hanshin Racecourse on April 2, 2016. Two weeks later, he was taken out of the races for a month following a racing accident involving 4 horses including his own which resulted in him breaking one of his ribs. In spite of this, he was able to win the most races of any rookie jockies in the Ritto Training Center.

Sakai raced in Australia from late 2017 to 2018 to improve his riding skills.

Sakai won his first Grade I race when he won the Japan Dirt Derby in 2020 with.

Sakai won his first JRA Grade I race with in the 2022 Shuka Sho, where they defeated Stars on Earth, who was the favored to win. Sakai then went on to win his second JRA Grade I race in a year with when they won the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes.

In February 2023, Sakai won the February Stakes with Lemon Pop. He and the horse would go on to win the Mile Championship Nambu Hai as well as the Champions Cup later that year. He would also win the JBC Nisai Yushun and the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun with Forever Young.

Following their consecutive wins at that year's Saudi and UAE Derbies, Sakai and Forever Young headed to the 2024 Kentucky Derby, where they were beaten by Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone in a photo finish and finished third.

Major wins
🇯🇵 Japan


 * Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes - (1) - Dolce More
 * Champions Cup - (1) - Lemon Pop
 * February Stakes - (1) - Lemon Pop
 * Japan Breeding Farms' Cup Nisai Yushun - (1) - Forever Young
 * Japan Dirt Derby - (1) - Danon Pharaoh
 * Mile Championship Nambu Hai - (1) - Lemon Pop
 * Sakitama Hai - (1) - Lemon Pop
 * Shuka Sho - (1) - Stunning Rose
 * Takamatsunomiya Kinen - (1) - Mad Cool
 * Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun - (1) - Forever Young