Racehorses rely on jockeys to bring them to victory, giving them the final push needed to often win a race and control the pace of the animal from start to finish. Most times, they’re needed to make key roles during a race but one horse proved that wasn’t the case in the slightest.
The Tokay Stakes 2023 horse race held at the Chukyo Racecourse in Nagoya, Japan, was technically won by a racehorse that ran the entire race without a jockey. Vanyar, the number five horse in the Tokay Stakes 2023 horse race, was actually disqualified from the competition, even though he crossed the finish line first and technically won.
Unfortunately, those are the rules when a racehorse loses its jockey at any point during the race but it did mark a pretty impressive achievement. Vanyar’s jockey lost their balance at the start of the race and fell off shortly after. In most of these instances, the horse veers off course or even leaves the race track entirely.
Despite losing some ground with the jockey ordeal, Vanyar managed to move through the pack and cross the finish line in first place. The animal managed to pace itself throughout the race, giving it one final go in the last stretch, evening slowing down after it crossed the finish line.
The clip of the race was posted online and ended up going viral in Japan and South Korea.
Source: https://youtu.be/ybfkjo0AHz8