You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. Click [show] for important translation instructions.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:福永祐一]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|ja|福永祐一}} to the talk page.
Yuichi Fukunaga (福永 祐一, Fukunaga Yūichi, born 9 December 1976[1]) is a Japanese horse trainer and former jockey who has won 29 Grade 1 races in Japan and abroad. He is affiliated with the Japan Racing Association (JRA) in Rittō. His father is former jockey Yoichi Fukunaga [ja] who was said to be a "genius" during his active career,[2] and his uncle is Takashi Kitamura, also a former jockey.[3] His wife is former Fuji TV announcer Midori Matsuo [ja].[3] Since July 2016, he has a management contract with Horipro together with Yuga Kawada, the entertainment production in which his wife is also affiliated.[4]
On December 8, 2022, following his trainer license issue being issued by the JRA, Fukunaga announced that he would retire as a jockey at the end of February next year and make a transition in to becoming a horse trainer.[5][6] Two months later, Fukunaga rode his final races in Japan at the February Stake on 19 February,[7][8] and finished his racing career at the Riyadh Dirt Sprint on February 25, 2023, where he rode Remake which finished 3rd behind Elite Power.[9][10] Retirement ceremonies of Fukunaga were held at Tokyo Racecourse on 19 February and on the Hanshin Racecourse on March 4.[11]
Fukunaga officially opened his stable on 6 March 2024.[12] Upon opening his stable, he received a number of horses from outgoing trainers, including Danon Scorpion and Dualist [ja] from Takayuki Yasuda [ja].[13]
