OYAJI POWER PART 1: FUMIO MATOBA 
With work on the new book, proofing and indexing on the last, and just a bit of fun in-between, the two pictures I've got waiting to go up on the blog are starting to take up residence on the computer desktop. I'm fed up of looking at them, so here goes with two of Louis' heroes...

The first is golf-mad Fumio Matoba, who was born in Fukuoka in September 1956. Registered at Oi (TCK), he got his jockey licence in 1973, and made his race debut in October that year, following in his brother's footsteps.

He has been declared NAR's leading jockey twice, and Oi's top man on no less than 21 occasions. As of today,
he has almost 6400 NAR wins to his credit, with a remarkably strong winning percentage approaching 19%. My boy Louis calls him a legend, and I'm not going to argue the point with a record like that.

Oddly, Matoba-san has rarely ventured into the JRA scene, but still has four wins in this arena to his credit. Furthermore, we're still waiting for him to win the Tokyo Derby after 30 attempts - something of a mystery in NAR circles given his prowess in the saddle...