Grade 1-winning Japanese jockey Kota Fujioka dies at 35 after mid-race fall in English

The Grade 1-winning jockey, who won 803 races in Japan, sustained head and chest injuries after being unseated in the seventh race and died in hospital. Fujioka was twice successful at the top level, including when landing the 2009 NHK Mile Cup on Jo Cappuccino at Tokyo racecourse for Kazuya Nakatake.

Veteran rider Yutaka Take expressed his grief, saying: “I have never felt this much pain and sadness. I can’t believe it.

Going forward, I want to race with thoughts of Kota in my heart.”