Michael Coleman

Behind the Stable Doors meets Michael 'King' Coleman

Ring a ding ding, Mickey’s the King.

A line we’ve all heard and one we will never forget. A long and illustrious career of Michael Coleman started in 1985 where he won 13 races, the following season he soared to 58 wins. This continued to grow and so did the legacy of Michael. One for the rarities, he rode Xcellent to win the derby on his third start, won over 2000 races, amassed over $39 million in stakes, and finally a career strike rate of 8.3. Simply put, Michael is one of the best to do it.

Michael has racing in his blood. He grew up surrounded by the sport, his dad rode and then trained racehorses and always had a few that he kept in training. Thus, the introduction to racing for Michael. He often tagged along to the track in the morning and sometimes went out with his dad on the track with the pony. In between training, Peter, Michael’s dad, worked for various thoroughbred establishments, a few examples consist of Gary Chittick, John Clapperton, and Blandford Lodge.

At school, one of Mickey's friends happened to have a brother, Shane Dye who first really drew Mickey into racing. Shane was an apprentice to Dave O’Sullivan before he went to Sydney, then Hong Kong, and Mauritius. Shane is a highly regarded jockey, winning some of Australia’s greatest races, including Golden Slippers, Melbourne Cup, and a Cox Plate. But the interest in becoming a jockey certainly grew from the trips to the track with his dad.

As a jockey, a typical week in the life of Michael Coleman is hard to nail, but it looked a little something like: Trackwork roughly six mornings a week, between two or three race meetings and a trial meeting, and perhaps most importantly keeping the weight down. A chunk of the week is taken up by losing weight and fasting to make the committed race day weights. Something that would take its toll on anybody, both physically and mentally. To destress and have a break from racing and horses, Mickey took up golf in his mid 20’s to keep his mind fresh.

To put it simply, Michael wanted to be a jockey. That’s it straight. He wanted to be a jockey and a good one at that. Pushing himself was part of the package, setting goals and challenging himself to be better and to learn. He traveled overseas which helped his ability to grow and learn, riding in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore. It was a series of small events and learnings that turned Michael Coleman into one of the best jockeys that the New Zealand ranks had seen. He was surrounded from early on in his career by people who only wanted to see him succeed. His first boss, Jim Gibbs played a major role early on in his career and so did Greg Childs who was Jim’s stable rider who helped get Mickey rides or gave him tips. He also spent a lot of car journeys and time in the jockey room with Lance O’Sullivan and Jim Collett who helped him progress too.

Luckily for Michael throughout his career, he didn’t have many big injuries blows, but life comes with challenges and so did his health. In the early ‘90’s Mickey had his fair share of health issues that followed him for the rest of his career. But like anyone wanting to be the best, he didn’t want to miss out on a winning ride. ‘The longer I'm out the more winners I miss, and the rides are harder to get.

The biggest success that Michael had in his career was the race he wanted to win. The New Zealand Derby. He won that twice. He also won an invited jockey’s challenge in Melbourne at Moonee Valley, against Australia’s best riders. Finally, he rode in the Melbourne Cup twice, a rare but incredible opportunity. The biggest joy has been success and being a part of other people's success. This included team success he had a great deal of success with Ballymore and that followed on to other loyal trainers who were rewarded with success with Mickey piloting.

There is no greater joy than great success.

What he loves the most about the industry is people enjoy success and reap what they sow. The people involved; everyone is working hard through a range of situations. from making ends meet through to the people better off than most, everyone is chipping in their bit and loves the game and more importantly the animal.

The one thing Michael would love to see a change in the industry is stakes in money increase. To get people enticed into the industry to get involved and get new people in. would also help us retain horses here instead of being sold overseas. This way we can keep the quality New Zealand horses, in New Zealand for us to watch and celebrate here. More money, more people involved, better horses might all add up and bring a bit of glamour back to the New Zealand racing industry.

Finally, life for Michael Coleman now. He has since retired from being a jockey after a nasty accident left him unable to ride, he has rehabilitated and still working with horses. Michael’s world has certainly changed, he is now working at Waikato Stud. He's recently finished the breeding season and after some extremely long hours, he's learned a lot and been on a learning curve. Michael has continued the theme from when he first joined the industry, that is to learn. It would be safe to say, even Michael was surprised what quite went into the breeding side of things, but he loves his job and loves being a part of the team out there.

The racing industry is forever in debt to Michael for the contribution and sacrifice he made to racing. An idol and an inspiration for not only current and future jockeys, but for everyone in the industry wanting to be the best at what they do. Michael shows that loyalty and hard work will get you everywhere.