Yoshitomi Shibata
| Yoshitomi Shibata 柴田善臣 | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Jockey |
| Born | July 30, 1966 Tōhoku, Aomori |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Height | 164 cm (5 ft 5 in) |
| Weight | 53 kg (117 lb) |
| Career wins | 2,343 (JRA+NAR), as of Dec. 22, 2022 |
Yoshitomi Shibata (柴田 善臣, Shibata Yoshitomi) (born July 30, 1966, in Tōhoku, Aomori) is a Japanese Horse racing jockey. He is a three-time champion jockey of Kantō, riding to 2,000 victories in his career.
He comes from a racing family; most notably his uncle Masato Shibata, who was a prolific jockey who won over 4,000 races during his career. He rode his first winner in 1985, on Izumi-Sanei at Nakayama. He was Japanese champion apprentice in 1985. He won his first grade race in 1988, riding Soushin-Houju in the Nakayama Himba Stakes.
He earned his 2000th career victory at Nakayama while riding Nakayama Knight, on 17 December 2011.
On November 5, 2022, Shibata became the oldest JRA jockey to win a race after he won a race at the Fukushima Race Course while riding Billecart, a record he would break 2 weeks later at the Fukushima Min'yu Cup with Verdad Imeru. That same year Shibata was awarded the Medal with Yellow Ribbon, becoming the first active JRA jockey to win a Medal.