Yuga Kawada (Japanese: 川田将雅, October 15, 1985[2] – ) is a Japanese jockey affiliated with the Japan Racing Association. Born to a family of horse racing, he is the leading jockey of JRA races of 2022.[3]
Kawada debuted on March 7, 2004, and won his first race on the 20th of that same month.[5] Kawada won his first graded race, the Kokura Daishoten, with Mejiro Meyer [ja] in 2006.[6] Kawada won his first Grade I race and classic race with Captain Thule [ja] when they won the Satsuki Sho in 2008.[7] The year before, he became the jockey to have ridden the first white horse to win a JRA race when he rode White Vessel [ja] at a maiden race held at Hanshin Racecourse on April 1, 2007.
Kawada became a Derby jockey in 2016 when he won the race with Makahiki. This race also marked his completion of all classic races in Japan, as he had also won the Kikuka Sho in 2010 with Big Week, the Yushun Himba with Gentildonna, and the Oka Sho with Harp Star by that point.[8] On September 11 of that same year, Kawada became the 31st JRA jockey to have won a total of 1,000 races in his career.[9]
In 2019, Kawada won the World All Star Jockeys that was held at Sapporo Racecourse.[1]
In 2022, Kawada won the Oka Sho for the second time with Stars On Earth.[13] That same year, he became the leading jockey in Japan for the first time in his creer, as well as the best jockey by win rate and money earned; earning him the Grand Prize.[3]
In 2023, Kawada became the first Japanese jockey to win the Dubai World Cup with Ushba Tesoro, and the first time since Victoire Pisa in 2011 for a Japanese horse to win the same race.[14][15][16] That same year, Kawada became a Triple Tiara jockey after he won the Oka Sho, Yushun Himba, and Shuka Sho with Liberty Island.[17][18][19] The final leg of the Triple Tiara, the Shuka Sho, was held on Kawada's 38th birthday.[20]
