Prominent Japanese Female Jockey Retires over Smartphone Use

Tokyo, Oct. 11 (Jiji Press)--Prominent Japanese female jockey Nanako Fujita, 27, has retired over her inappropriate use of a smartphone before races.

According to the Japan Racing Association, the country's governing body for horse racing, Fujita submitted her retirement notice on Thursday, following the announcement that she would be suspended from jockeying, and her license was revoked on Friday.

Fujita has won 166 JRA races since her debut in 2016, the most ever for a female jockey. In 2019, she became the first Japanese woman to win a JRA graded race.

In July, she announced her marriage to a JRA official and indicated her intention to continue her career.

However, the JRA interviewed Fujita on Wednesday and Thursday and found that she had brought her smartphone to an accommodation facility where jockeys are required to stay before races, and communicated with three people related to a racing stable until around April last year.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]