From there, he has steadily built up a good track record, becoming the seventh leading jockey in 2003, and winning the French Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris in the same year.

The victory broke the winning streak of Triple Crown winner and eventual Horse of the Year Deep Impact.

It was also the fourth straight year that a foreign jockey won the Arima Kinen, following three consecutive wins by Olivier Peslier.

He also rode Pride in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, beating the favourite, Hurricane Run.

In 2008 he rode the winner of England's second classic of the year, the 1,000 Guineas, aboard the Pascal Bary-trained Natagora.

[10] In October 2018, he rode Almond Eye to her victory at the Japan Fillies Triple Crown and won the championship for the second consecutive year, breaking Yutaka Take's long standing record for wins in a year in Japan (215 wins vs 212).

2023 saw his come-back to the highest rank of horse racing in Japan: not only did he win the JRA championship but also broke the record in terms of prize money.