Francisco Leandro Gets Off to a Flying Start in Japan with a Victory

The Brazilian jockey currently sits third in the Sapporo jockeys’ championship, having also captured a conditional race

Francisco Leandro Honored Following First Victory in Japan / JRA

SAPPORO, Japón (Special for Turf Diario).- A day that will be etched in memory for Brazilian jockey Francisco Leandro came this Saturday (early morning in Argentina), as he notched his first win on Japanese soil while sitting third in the World All Star Jockeys 2025 standings after the opening two stages of the tournament at Sapporo, contested on a counter-clockwise track.

All the hopes and expectations he brought from Buenos Aires were met with a warm welcome and excellent results, as the leader of the Palermo and San Isidro statistics quickly made his mark.

After finishing ninth aboard Dixie Vogue (Declaration of War) in the day’s second race, Leandro’s moment came in the fourth, when he prevailed on High Quality (Real Steel) in a race for 3-year-olds and up over 1700 meters on heavy dirt. Leandro kept the 3-year-old prepared by Teiichi Konno within striking distance, accelerated into the turn, and seized control entering the short stretch, cruising to a comfortable six-length victory over Riddle Trigger (American Pharoah).

The jockey championship began immediately afterward, and the South American representative hit the ground running, finishing second aboard Maru Puri (Mikki Isle)—beaten by just a neck by Heart Whip (Jo Cappuccino), ridden by local Ryusei Sakai on Forever Young (Reel Steal). “It was an ideal race. He broke well and ran solidly. I thought we’d get there at the wire, but we just came up a little short,” Leandro said, pleased with the performance.

In the second stage of the World All Star Jockeys, Francisco finished sixth aboard Sumi (Leontes), just 1½ lengths behind Patrick Handsome (Bago), with Thore Hammer Hansen in the irons. Reflecting on the run, Leandro commented, “I think it was a good race. Maybe we could have done better if I’d been able to position him a bit further back. My goal was to finish in the top five, but we got passed just before the wire.”

After day one, the standings show Thore Hammer Hansen leading with 42 points, followed by Sakai with 31, and Leandro with 28.

With improved mounts lined up for Sunday, the Brazilian ace can dream of reaching the top and embracing glory.