KOTA MOTOHASHI
Continuing the occasional series on Japanese jockeys, today we'll have a look at Kota Motohashi - Sophie's favourite jockey in the whole world!

Born in Chiba Prefecture in November 1988, Kota qualified for his jockey licence in March 2006. He won one of the races on his first day as a professional, and had already won an S1 race by the time 2008 drew to a close, which surely shows the potential of this young fellow.

Watch him in action, and you can see he reads races well - a talent that has brought him 370 victories so far and an impressive win rate of 11 percent. His love of horses shows, too, which must be a great advantage for the Yano Stable outfit he's attached to - he settles them down nicely, and never pushes them beyond their limits, only right up to it.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again - the win in the 2012 Tokyo Derby on Pretiolas was truly magnificent. I have a feeling that Kota will be winning for a long time to come, and if his career is as lengthy as that of some of the veterans in NAR racing, you can expect a win tally in the thousands rather than the hundreds by the time he retires. Ganbatte, Kota!