Jockey Fumio Matoba, 68, retired after an illustrious career of nearly 52 years. The news was announced by Oi Racecourse Feb. 14, where Matoba has been based since he started riding in 1973.
Matoba has the most wins in Japanese history, winning 7,424 races from 43,497 rides on the National Association of Racing circuit. Starting in 1985, Matoba was the leading jockey at the Oi Meeting for 20 consecutive years and was described as the "Emperor of Oi." In 2020, Matoba was the first active jockey to be honored with the Yellow Ribbon Medal, which is awarded to those who through their careers became a public role model.
Matoba rode in the Tokyo Derby, one of the most prestigious races at Oi, 39 times and finished second 10 times. It is recognized as one of the seven wonders in the horse racing world of Japan that Matoba failed to ever win the Tokyo Derby.
Matoba has struggled with pain in his left kneecap since February of last year and was sidelined five months for treatment. Although he resumed riding at Oi July 8, he rode only one race and canceled the rest of his mounts. He has not ridden any races since.
Matoba said in a statement. "I would like to thank racing fans for giving their enthusiastic support. I still want to keep riding, to be honest. However, I decided to retire from riding as my knee injury is troublesome and I started feeling the limits of physical strength."
