Jockey Mitch Goring set to make his race debut in Queensland

Queensland apprentice jockey Mitch Goring has opened up on his father’s tragic race death, family support and his love for the sport as he chases his dream debut.

Young Queensland jockey Mitch Goring. Picture: Racing Queensland.

Rising Sunshine Coast-based apprentice jockey Mitch Goring is bidding to become a top-level hoop, following the footsteps of his late father before his untimely race death.

The 20-year-old is the son of late Victorian hoop Mark Goring – who rode more than 140 winners in his career – before he was thrown from his horse and suffered fatal head injuries in a race at Tatura in 2003.

Goring sadly never met his father – his mum Emma was pregnant with him and raising a two-year-old daughter at the time of his father’s death.

Despite the tragedy, Goring said he’d wanted to be a jockey for as long as he could remember.

“It’s been a lifelong dream so mum and the rest of my family have always known I’ve wanted to be a jockey,” he said.

“Mum naturally tried to advise me elsewhere but the day I turned 14 I got a job at the stables, was there at 2.30am that morning and it’s been that way ever since.

“My friends, family and my partner have been really supportive and I can’t put why I wanted to become a jockey to anything besides I just love the sport and the animal.”

The late Mark Goring pictured as an apprentice at Caulfield in 1998.

Goring relocated to Queensland in February 2023 after a series of knock-backs from the Victorian apprentice jockeys program.

“I moved to Queensland just to get my jockey apprenticeship, I was just too heavy for Melbourne and I’ve got nothing negative to say about them as it’s an elite program I just wasn’t blessed to be under 54kg,” he said.

He completed his trials and jumpouts under the mentorship of Sunshine Coast trainers Adam and Dallas Simpson.

“I’ve had to work hard for it with the move and everything but I think it will really benefit me in the long run,” he said.

“Dallas has obviously just had a baby so she’s doing as much as she can for me but Adam has been really hands on and it’s really comforting knowing that he has my back and my best interest at heart.”

Goring is set to head to the races on June 4 at Kilcoy.

“It’s mixed emotions at the moment but I’m very excited and just itching to get out there,” he said.

“I’m a very competitive person, I love working hard and getting rewards out of it and I think I thrive on that responsibility of being on the track just you and the animal.

“I hope to ride my first race and hopefully have my first winner not too far behind that but a lifelong goal would be to win my dad’s memorial race at Tatura one year.

“That’s something I would love more than anything and I know it would mean a lot to plenty of people.”