It has been announced that Christophe Lemaire, a jockey for the Japan Racing Association (JRA), will appear in the ninth episode (broadcast on December 7th) of the TBS Sunday Theatre drama "The Royal Family" (Sundays at 9pm), starring Satoshi Tsumabuki Satoshi, and this has drawn a lot of attention from horse racing fans.
French jockey Lemaire has been with the JRA since 2015, winning numerous G1 races. This autumn, he is in top form, having won the Shuka Sho, Kikuka Sho, Tenno Sho (Autumn), and JBC Classic. In fact, he made an early appearance in episode 4 of the drama (broadcast on November 2nd) as reference footage, in which he smiles after winning the race aboard Almond Eye, the famous horse that achieved the "Fillet Triple Crown."
Previously, JRA jockeys such as Yutaka Take, Keita Tosaki, Yuichi Kitamura, and Rusei Sakai have appeared in the drama, but all of them played themselves. However, on the drama's official SNS, they wrote, "What role will they play... please look forward to it!", and did not explicitly state that they would be playing themselves.
Since jockey Lemaire also appears in a TV commercial for the popular smartphone game "Uma Musume Pretty Derby," various opinions have been raised on social media, such as "Maybe he's playing a role of someone soaking in a hot spring," "It's one of the mass-produced Mekarumeru," "Maybe he's playing a farmer riding a tractor," "Lemaire is a jockey who is well-known for his acting skills," and "Maybe he's a chef."
