Olivier Peslier, one of the great international riders of modern times, has announced his imminent retirement at the age of 51.
A winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) on four occasions and also a four-time champion jockey in his native France, Peslier will take two final mounts at La Teste in the southwest of France April 25. It will mark the end of a career that has featured a welter of international success including the Epsom Derby (G1), the Japan Cup (G1), and at the Breeders' Cup.
Peslier told the Racing Post: "I have earned more than 3,700 victories around the world, 502 group race wins of which 165 were group 1s including those in Arabian races. Like everyone, my turn has arrived. I'm a tiny bit younger than (Frankie) Dettori and I'll be stopping just before him. It's been an extraordinary career and I would hope I can say it's been an exemplary one."
One of the most naturally gifted horsemen of his or any other generation, Peslier enjoyed huge success in tandem with Andre Fabre during the mid-1990s and early 2000s, while his 11 seasons as retained rider to Alain and Gerard Wertheimer coincided with the career of three-time Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) heroine Goldikova as well as the last of his four Arc winners, Solemia.
Peslier credited his long-serving British agent Shippy Ellis with raising his profile internationally and can count victory aboard High-Rise for Luca Cumani in the 1998 Epsom Derby and the Geoff Huffer-trained Cockney Rebel in the Two Thousand Guineas (G1) nine years later among his finest hours in Britain.
"I've had some wonderful moments in Britain, at Royal Ascot and winning the Derby," he said. "I also had a great deal of success in Japan and winning the Japan Cup was wonderful. My career has been marked by some great moments of joy."
Peslier added: "I've had the same sponsors, the same equipment providers, and even the same agent through my entire career. Shippy was my first agent and he has stayed with me right to the end.
"He was responsible for me getting going on the international stage, while the GPA helmets that I started with have become a huge brand and have been with me all the way through.
"There are several trainers who have supported me all the way through while I've also worked with some very important owners and trainers down the years."
Peslier had a renaissance during the Covid years when he rode a number of important winners for overseas trainers—notably group 1 successes with Laws of Indices for Ken Condon and the Roger Varian-trained Teona—and even an Indian Summer during the 2022 season when Fabre recalled him.
Peslier has enjoyed extremely loyal associations, notably with Carlos Laffon-Parias and Freddy Head, who retired from training at the end of 2022, but his services have been less in demand over the past 12 months.
Looking toward the future, he added: "I'll be staying in and around the sport but I'll wait a while to see exactly how that plays out. I'll stay connected to racing, I'll remain involved in breeding and I will continue to ride out. I worked six horses this morning and that will remain my routine on Tuesdays. I love horses and I love riding so that won't stop."
Peslier's success across more than 30 years is matched only by his popularity around the racing globe—as one of the first international stars to make regular winter visits to Japan he earned the nickname "the Blue Samurai"—and his fans can be assured he will still be seen on the racecourse.
"I'll continue to go racing on the big days, in England as well as in France," he said.
