TAITO MORI
The visitor count blasted past the 2000 mark late last night after more than 120 people dropped in on the blog in a single day - the main traffic comes from Japan and America, sharing about 80% of the volume between them, with Britain making up the bulk of the remainder; about ten other countries crop up on an occasional basis, with folks in Russia, Germany and Switzerland clocking up regular visits. Today, I'm going to profile Taito Mori, whose blog often has my wife laughing with some of the comments he makes.

Born in Chiba in January 1981, although he had horse riding experience as a kid, Taito Mori was certainly not being primed for life as a jockey. Indeed, he ended up leaving home to pursue his dream, much against the wishes of his parents. Eventually, in March 1998, his hard work was rewarded with a jockey's licence, and he made his debut in the following month. He also took his first win, being based at Ashikaga Keiba track at the time.

In 2000, he took a break from racing to work in the stables, polishing his horseman skills, but put on silks again in 2001, registering 100 wins in the following year. In 2003, the high of a JRA debut was tempered by the closure of the Ashikaga track, and Taito moved to the Utsunomiya NAR facility as a result. However, that closed, too, and in 2005, he returned to Chiba and home territory, duly becoming attached to the Matsushiro Stable at Funabashi.

With 862 wins in NAR racing (equivalent to a 9% win rate) and a couple of JRA victories in his pocket, Taito is currently the leading jockey at the Funabashi Keiba track, and number two in the recently-released Minami-Kanto rankings. At his current pace, looking at the 2012 statistics to get a rough idea of form, his tally of wins should pass the 1000 mark by this time next year with any luck...