French jockey Alexis Badel is already enjoying his Japanese summer stint both on-track and off. A longshot win on Tomoyasu Sakaguchi’s Saccarello with the first ride of his stay at Chukyo on Saturday was followed by two narrow victories to close on Sunday.
“It was amazing, I really didn’t expect the first one, and I wasn’t expecting too much because I don’t really know a lot about Japanese races,” said Badel. “It was great to have my first winner from my first ride, I couldn’t dream of a better start – and then it kept going well on the second day, I had two winners both by short margins. I feel like I have some luck with me – it was all a lot better than I expected.”
Badel’s only previous experience in Japan was eight rides in the 2023 World All-Star Jockeys Series in Sapporo. The 35-year-old’s lone win in the Sapporo series was good enough to elevate him into fifth place, which in turn qualified him for this short term licence.
Northern Farm is sponsoring Badel’s licence and he was happy to repay the breeding giant with Sunday’s win aboard Mediterranean for top-tier trainer Yasutoshi Ikee.
Badel rounded out his weekend three-timer with Peaceful Night from the stable of Japan Cup-winning trainer Tomokazu Takano. That was the mare’s first win since she broke her maiden at the sixth attempt at Kyoto in May, 2023.
The lightweight jockey plans to ride at Chukyo for at least the next three weekends but he is enjoying some sightseeing between riding assignments.
Badel and his young family – he is travelling with wife Eva and his two daughters – enjoyed Tokyo last week and he was speaking to Idol Horse from Kyoto, his first visit to the picturesque city.
“The idea of the trip is to obviously have some success but also travel around and see Japan, have a nice holiday – Tokyo was amazing – and also have a stint with some races, it’s a good experience. We are happy here,” he said.
“This was our first trip to Kyoto, I have been here for two days, it is an amazing city – Japan is an amazing place.”
As good as Kyoto is, Badel’s success last weekend has whetted his appetite to get back to the races this weekend.
“The horsemen are first class, the fans are very sweet and racing enthusiasts. No matter what, at the races or not, Japan is always a great country to deal with,” Badel said. “It is a very good racing nation, the fans create a great atmosphere. The people are always very positive towards the jockeys no matter what, which is good.
“I have felt welcome right away,” he added, “but having some winners will certainly increase that feeling.” ∎
