Meet Vanyar, the racehorse that runs an entire race without his jockey (and win).

Believe it or not, the Tokay Stakes 2023 horse race at the Chukyo Racecourse in Nagoya, Japan was technically won by a racehorse that ran the entire race…without his jockey.

Although that’s true that a jockey can’t really help a slow horse win a race, their role in professional racing is undeniable.
The jockey, in fact, plays many roles during a race, including control the pace of the animal, either pushing it from the beginning in a race where setting the pace is important, or conserving its energy for a final push.
And they are also responsible for how fast the horse comes out of the gates at the start and tactical movement during the race.
At least that’s what most horseracing enthusiasts will tell you.
But one animal recently proved the opposite!

Vanyar, the no.5 horse in the Tokay Stakes 2023 horse race, was 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 during a race it was disqualified, but that takes nothing away from the horse, on the contrary, it only makes its achievement that much more impressive.

This year’s Tokay Stakes race was held on January 22nd, and it was the first dirt race of the year, with most other important competitions taking place on grass.
Right out of the gate, Vanyar’s jockey loses their balance and falls off. That sort of thing happens all the time, and in vast majority of cases, with no one to control it, the horse just goes off course and leaves the race track on its own. But not in this case.
Although Vanyar can be seen lagging behind after the fall of its jockey, as the race progresses, the animal can be seen moving up in the pack until it ends up in contention to win.
The commentators take notice as well and they get all excited on the final stretch when Vanyar somehow digs deep and crosses the finish line first.
You can even see the desperate jockey of the runner-up (technically, the winner) hitting the horse to get it to run faster, but Vanyar was absolutely better.
The horse paced itself all through the race, only stepping on the gas in the final stretch, and then slowing down right after crossing the finish line.
Then, it just casually made its way to the exit, as if guided by an invisible jockey.
Either way the clip of Vanyar’s win went popular not only in Japan, but also in South Korea and other Asian countries.
And for good reason, as it’s not something you see every day!
As already mentioned, unfortunately, horses without a jockey are disqualified, so number 10 gets the wreath and the prize money for this race.
But we all know who the real winner is!

Images from web – Google Research