Steeplechasing’s gypsy
Wanderlust brought him to the U.S.:
Good horses, good racing and good luck
are keeping him here
Check in with current leading jockey Michael Mitchell to find out what adding the American championship to his 2015 New Zealand rider title would mean to him.
By Betsy Burke Parker
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Michael Mitchell has ridden races on three continents. He’d like to tag a fourth, but, for now, he’s got his eye on American steeplechasing’s biggest prize – the year-end championship.
With three weeks to go on the 2019 circuit, Mitchell holds the slimmest of leads over his closest rival – one win.
Mitchell knows it could go either way.
He’s “taking things one ride at a time. I’m pleased and excited how the (year’s) gone, kind of snowballed from the early season. But you know it can always go either way.”
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Mitchell didn't come from a strong racing background. He rode ponies a bit when he was young, but "forgot
all about horses" when he was in school: Mitchell played rugby and cricket, but after school he reconnected with horses through an uncle that had a point-to-pointer.
First time out, “the horse ran off with me for miles. I thought I’d best figure out how to do it properly.”
It was the first step in a journey that’s led from England to Australia, from New Zealand to France, and, eventually, to the United States.
To get the basics, Mitchell did the “fast track” course at the British Racing School in Newmarket. He took out an amateur license and rode for George Baker in Surrey. “He was brilliant, taught me just about everything about racing, yard duties, taking the horses to the races, everything.”
But it was the next move that stunned friends and family. It even surprised Mitchell a little.
He replied to an internet ad for a job in a racing yard in Australia. “I had $500 in my pocket and no contacts,” he recalls the craziness of just “picking up and moving halfway around the world. “Australian training and racing is totally different. In England, you’d ride three or four a day. In Australia, we’d be riding 15 or 20.”
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The Michael Mitchell file
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Racing weight: 140. “I used to play rugby at school, and weighed 160-plus. I’d say my body thinks 145 is about ‘natural’ for me. It’s pretty easy to maintain.”
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Hometown: Rugby, England, in Warwickshire about 80 miles northeast of London
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Current hometown: Monkton, Maryland, at Kingfisher Farm
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Accomplishments: 2015 New Zealand champion jockey; won the 141
st running of the New Zealand Grand National (High Forty). Currently atop the American rider list.
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Mitchell riding Pathfinder Racing's Shrove Tuesday to a win in the Filly & Mare Maiden Flat at the International Gold Cup Races in 2018. Douglas Lees photo
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After a season, Mitchell shifted his tack to New Zealand for more race riding opportunities, eventually landing with Hall of Fame trainer, and Austral-asian legend, Graeme Rogerson.
New Zealand native Craig Thornton – based in the U.S. in the 1990s and 1992 and ’98 American titlist – suggested Mitchell might like to check out American steeplechasing in New Zealand’s off-season.
Mitchell visited in October, 2014 and rode a few for trainer Leslie Young. He won with his first mount – Young’s own Titan Dune on the turf at Genesee.
“It was really good fun,” Mitchell told
thisishorseracing.com in a podcast this summer. “The racing suited my style of riding. I was just hungry to learn, really.”
“Highlight of my career, for sure,” he says.
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Michael Mitchell returns to scale after winning his first Grand National aboard High Forty. Joseph Johnson/Fairfax NZ photo
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Father and son training partnership Brian and Shane Anderton and jockey Michael Mitchell with the spoils of victory. Joseph Johnson/Fairfax NZ photo
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Mitchell liked American racing, and he made a permanent move in 2017. Show Court was his first big American winner, winning the Carolina Cup novice stake April 1.
His fortune turned, briefly, when he took a bad fall a few weeks later, April 29 at Queen's Cup; the left side of his face was crushed, struck by a hoof as he tumbled.
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“Fortunately, your brain doesn’t let you remember scenes like that,” Mitchell says, circumspect about the frightening injury that required reconstruction of his eye socket and jaw, and a titanium plate over his cheek. “It’s your body’s way of coping. “It scares my family, I know. Mom, she’s had a few incidents before.”
Mitchell was back riding by mid-summer, having helped the healing process with cryotherapy – a freezing technique, and swimming to regain fitness.
“There’s such a community around the game, everywhere you go,” he stresses the partisan nature of the game, worldwide. “Everybody’s very sympathetic, everyone looks after each other because its a very dangerous sport to be involved in.
“Best part was there was a bit of sharing recipes for milkshakes you can drink when your jaw’s wired shut.”
Off to a fast start in the spring, riding first-call for Jack Fisher, Mitchell ran up his 2019 total early, with triples at Middleburg Spring, Virginia Gold Cup, Radnor and Fair Hill.
As of press time, he clings to a slim lead – one up on friend and neighbor Jack Doyle with four meets left on the calendar.
“It’s not something you think about, much,” Mitchell says when asked about the title race. “You know how racing is – you’re pleased and it’s going well, then things go the other direction. You’ve always got to be a little careful you don’t get big-headed.
“You’ve gotta stay humble at how luck plays into it.”
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Running neck-and-neck with Michael Mitchell
for the year-end title, Jack Doyle talks about his own championship aspirations
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A native of Tipperary, Ireland, Jack Doyle works for Elizabeth Voss at her late father Tom’s Atlanta Hall in Monkton, Maryland. This is his fifth year on the U.S. circuit.
The rider title isn’t something he really thinks about, Doyle says. “Generally, you think about weekend to weekend.
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“At the end of it, if I’m champion, great. If not, try again next year, and it’s been a good run.”
He and Michael Mitchell have spent most of the 2019 season trading the lead for the championship – after Mitchell won one at the Oct. 26 Gold Cup, he nosed in front, but Doyle has the upper hand this weekend, with three rides at the all-timber Pennsylvania Hunt Cup.
Rivals on the racecourse, they’re friends off it, Doyle says. They live just 20 minutes apart, and sometimes play golf after hours or on rare days off.
“Most of us are best of friends ‘til we get out to the start,” Doyle adds. “Then we ride tight and competitive. Things can get heated after a race, but that’s rare. Twenty minutes later we’re back to friends.
“We all know we’re out there trying to do our best in a very dangerous sport.”
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Michael Mitchell (right) drives Woodslane Farm's Pik Em to the win over Jack Doyle on Willow Oaks Stables LLC's Iconic Artist at Shawan Downs in September. Douglas Lees photo
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Take time with Michael Mitchell
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Is the secret in his race-day routine? Or maybe it's the Swedish Fish?
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Current leading jockey Michael Mitchell insists that ‘his life is pretty boring,’ but there has to be a secret to be mined from the very – very – specific minutia of his race-day prep.
We followed Mikey (“people here call me Mikey; I’m just Michael back home in England”), through every step of his day on Saturday, Oct. 26 – the International Gold Cup in The Plains, Virginia – to see if we could figure out the winning formula.
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His alarm goes off.
“I wake up every morning at 6:15. Work day or not. It’s very boring, but I’ve found it best to keep the same routine.
I have (microwave) oatmeal for breakfast – that sticks with me ’til dinner.
I do meditation and stretching. I have a mat and a place in my apartment where I do it. Stretching – especially through the hips and shoulders. It wakes everything up, gets you into the right mindframe."
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He arrives at the barn, even on a (local, or sort of local) racing day
“I live on site, just a few steps from the barn. I get on a few then leave for the races.
I’ve gotten the car packed up the night before (a race day.) Everything has its place, so I know I’ve got it all."
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He gets in the car – a beloved Subaru, and noses south.
“I set the GPS and follow the turns. I have a bottle of electrolyte water with me.
I like to listen to podcasts while I’m driving. Bill Burr is a good one right now. I make some phone calls – check in with people. Not much on music while I’m driving."
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He arrives at the Great Meadow racecourse. He’s “ridden the card” at every meet here since the 2017 International Gold Cup, some 30 races over three of the four courses at the facility.
“I park, carry my bag to the weighing room. Take my saddles out, check in with the clerk of scales.
This gives me an hour-plus to walk the course. Err, courses.
I check the position of the hurdles, the ground, look at the steeplethon flags and get a gauge on how it’ll run. I get a program and review the form (in each of my) races."
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Mitchell and Gil Johnston's Day of Heaven through the water in the
Steeplethon Stakes
at the International Gold Cup Races last week.
Tod Marks
photo
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Time for the jockeys meeting.
“I go to the compulsory meeting with the officials. All normal stuff.
I go back in to get my gear sorted. I’ve got three saddles – 10 pounds, 3 pounds, half-pound. My favorite is the 3-pound.
I get the weights right for the first couple races and step on the scales to check. I’ve got two pairs of boots – light ones, regular ones. A heavy (undershirt) and a lighter one. Lots of combinations.
At Great Meadow you send your tack back to the stables
(for the trainer to saddle due to pari-mutuel regulations which keep jockeys sequestered before paddock time.)
While I’m waiting to be called, I grab a few Swedish Fish
(a chewy candy – selected from a dish of Halloween fun-size candies placed in the jocks’ room by race officials.)
We appreciate having (a selection of) water and sodas in the changing room, electrolyte drinks, Gatorade. A little bit of sugar is good. Fruit, berries, little candies.
Some of the meets do a really nice job – cots, showers some places, lots of food and drink. Some places are just a tent in a field for the one-day meets."
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Official call for jockeys to report to the saddling enclosure.
“We go out together. Mid-paddock, I meet with the owners and trainer, have a chat about the race (and) make a plan. Where I want to be at the start, in the race."
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They’re off in the
Sport of Kings maiden hurdle
. Mitchell is on Shark du Berlais, a French-bred making just his second U.S. start, and his first in 18 months. He’s well positioned early, but pulls up two out.
“He got tired. Nothing more.
After (each) race, it helps if you’ve prepared for the next one. I put things together in an order, jump on the scales and send the tack.
I go back in and tidy up, get on my next colors, sort the right hat cover, get clean goggles, clean my boots, usually with polish and a rag so you’re presentable.
I get a quick drink of water and some more Swedish Fish.
I grab the program to recap what form … for the next horse.
Then we go out and do it again."
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Mitchell rode four Saturday at Great Meadow, ending on a high note winning the
grade 2 Ferguson
with Gibralfaro. He doesn’t have mounts in the last two, so he packs up after he leaves the winner’s circle and live-stream interview. He watches the timber feature from the stand then walks back to his car.
“(International Gold Cup winner) Schoodic is part of our (Fisher stable) team, so I wanted to watch that. I stop in (the temporary race-day barn) to check in, thank everybody and get my car.
On the way home, I ring home and tell my mom I’ve come back safe. She likes that.
I stop for gas off the interstate and grab dinner there – chicken and veg.
Sometimes I cook at home – steak, potatoes, broccoli, turkey, salads, eggs on toast – nothing fancy.
I’m in bed by 8:30. I’ve usually got a book – right now it’s “Robin”
(the New York Times best-seller about the life and comic genius of Robin Williams.)
I read a few chapters before I turn out the light.
I’m a sound sleeper. ’Til the alarm next morning."
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The David L. "Zeke" Ferguson Stakes trophy presentation, with Riverdee Stable's Sean Clancy and trainer Jack Fisher, at the International Gold Cup Races.
Tod Marks
photo
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Bonus Q and A:
Question:
What does it take to be a good jump jockey?
Answer:
“A bit of luck, really. I’m not sure there’s any one thing you could pinpoint. Takes a bit of tenacity and bravery.
It’s such a thrill to win a race, to bring a horse along, and all the boys have that, they’re hooked. Once you win one, you’re waiting for that next fix, that next win.”
Question:
A favorite part of the U.S. jumps scene?
Answer:
“At the end of the day, you’re making plans to play golf. I mean, it’s a good team (in the pro jockey colony) at the moment. Everyone gets on, we leave everything out on the track.
I’ve never been in the country where people come from so far and wide – Camden to Pa. and all down the east coast, so you work at finding a way to hang out in your spare time. There’s a real sense of camaraderie.
It’s a lovely community to be part of. The horse connects everybody.”
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Jack Fisher gives instructions to his four jockeys before the Calvin Houghland Iroquois hurdle stakes in May. Jack Doyle rode Gibralfaro for Riverdee Stable, while Willie McCarthy, Michael Mitchell, and Sean McDermott rode for Bruton Street-US.
Tod Marks
photo
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Question:
Idols?
Answer:
“When I was in England, John Francome was my favorite. I completely idolized him. Internationally, I follow and watch. There’s one French jockey – he rides quite short, and he makes it like a ballet. Lovely to watch. I pick up things from the flat as well.
Race riding is not a job you master. Always trying to do better, and it’s so dependent on the horse you’re riding.
It’s very easy to look good on a good horse. But it’s when you get the tough ones who don’t do everything right, that’s when you search and search and see what knowledge you’ve got and work it out."
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Moscato made it easy for Mitchell to look good, winning the Temple Gwathmey hurdle handicap at the Middleburg Spring Races for Bruton Street-US.
Tod Marks
photo
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Question:
How do you keep fit? Just riding, or … ?
Answer:
“When I’m not riding or working, I do Pilates, hiking, anything outdoors, to keep my body in its best shape possible."
Question:
Any advice for a young person who aspires to race riding?
Answer:
“Get the basics right first. You really have to work hard, listen and find what works for you (and) your style.
There are plenty of opportunities out there. Don’t be scared to dive in."
Question:
You’ve seen jump racing around the world from the inside out. Anything American ‘chasing could take from another jurisdiction to improve?
Answer:
"People like the fast results posted almost immediately on racing websites. With the live stream, you’re creating a ‘show’ for people, a circuit for them to follow. Maybe show (a graphic rendition of the) colors in the overnights. People can see who they’re following. That’s progressing in the right direction.
Once people start to get on board, it should be easier to follow.
The horses do the rest. Great entertainment for everybody."
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Megan Connolly interviews Mitchell for the live stream, after his win on Dolly Fisher's Schoodic at the Fair Hill Twilight Races. Schoodic was a rare timber ride for Mitchell. TGSF photo.
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Question:
Some other world you want to conquer?
Answer:
"I don’t know about that yet. Well, I’d actually love to race in Japan in the (American) off season. The racing there is very, very, very good. Top quality and lots of money.
Other than that, my family’s sheep and potato farmers, so probably, once the racing career falls away, I want to go home and work on the farm and have a bit of change of pace. Hopefully I have a long time yet."
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