Karis Teetan hit the mark on the opening day of the World All-Star Jockeys at Sapporo Racecourse on Saturday putting himself firmly in contention for honours at the half-way stage of the JRA’s international jockey contest.

The Hong Kong-based Mauritian sat joint-second in the standings after partnering Win Exceed to victory in the competition’s second leg. He settled his mount behind the Keita Tosaki-ridden leader Lyric Drama early in the 2000m race, urged for acceleration approaching the 400m mark, and sped past Lyric Drama to score by three-quarters of a length. 

Teetan grabbed 30 points for that win while Tosaki took 20 for second and the Yuga Kawada-ridden Gold Flag finished a further half-length behind in third.  

Teetan scraped a single point in the opening leg when his mount King King King finished 12th of 14. The 1200m contest went to the Christophe Lemaire-ridden Arinna.

Teetan and Lemaire ended the day with 31 points, just one point behind the leader Tosaki who gained 12 points with his fourth-placed finish atop Taisei Sonic in the first leg.

Tosaki’s and Lemaire’s efforts helped Team JRA to a commanding lead in the team event. The local stars held an advantage of 137 points to 87 points over Teetan’s Team World All-Stars. 

The third and fourth legs of the World All-Star Jockeys contest will continue at Sapporo on Sunday afternoon. Teetan will team up with Realist in the third leg, a 1700m dirt event, before climbing aboard Jo Book Kommen in the concluding leg, an 1800m event on turf.

Karis Teetan takes the second leg aboard Win Exceed at Sapporo Racecourse, picture Hong Kong Jockey Club