Takezō Nagano

I'll be honest — winning on your very first professional ride is the kind of debut that makes people sit up and pay attention, and that's exactly what Takezō Nagano did when he stepped into the JRA saddle in March 2021. A kid from Niigata who started hanging around racehorses in elementary school, he came up through the JRA riding school and looked like the real deal: Fair Play Award, steady wins building year over year, the sort of young jockey you quietly file away as one to watch. Which is what makes the 2024 exit so jarring. Smartphone use in the adjustment room — the kind of rule that exists precisely because the integrity of racing depends on total isolation before a race — cost him his license at 22. The talent was genuine; the story just didn't get the ending it deserved.

Takezō Nagano is a Japanese jockey born on September 8, 2002, in Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture. He competes as a professional horse racing rider in Japan. Most personal details, including his agency and career debut year, have not been made public.

Name (English)

Takezō Nagano

Name (Japanese)

永野猛蔵

Reading

ながの たけぞう

Born

September 8, 2002 (age 23)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Virgo / Horse (午)

Origin

Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan

Height

162cm

Occupation

Jockey

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B0%B8%E9%87%8E%E7%8C%9B%E8%94%B5

Tags

• From Niigata Prefecture
• Jockey

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.