Following the conclusion of Saturday's races at the Gold Coast, jockey Chris Munce will conclude his 30-year career as a jockey and will immediately take up training, the 45-year-old announced Wednesday.
“I knew retirement was coming when I went to bed the night before a race meeting and didn't dream about riding winners,” Munce explained to Australian Associated Press.
Munce is one of the few jockeys in the history of the Australian turf to ride the winners of the so-called 'Big 4′ races–the G1 Melbourne Cup on Jezabeel (NZ), the G1 Cox Plate aboard Savabeel (Aus), the Caulfield Cup with Descarado (NZ) and two Golden Slippers–and counts 43 Group 1 victories, five jockeys' premierships in Brisbane and over 2500 career scores overall.
However, Munce's was a checkered career from time to time, as he did a stint in jail following a 2007 conviction in Hong Kong for betting offenses and returned to Brisbane upon completion of his sentence. His career stalled once more when he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2012, but he told AAP he has been given the all-clear.
He will have plenty to ride for Saturday at the Gold Coast when he pilots favored Wicked Intent (Aus) (Wicked Style) in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic for his father-in-law Barry Mitchell.
Munce will begin his training career with a dozen horses, but hopes to triple that number over time.
“It is not beyond the realms that I can be the first premiership winning jockey to also be the leading trainer in Brisbane,” Munce told AAP.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
