Corey Munce goes from flying planes to landing winners in training partnership with legendary father Chris

Corey Munce was looking to land planes for a living, but a career change has him looking to land Group 1 winners instead as he takes up a training partnership with his legendary father Chris.

Former pilot Corey Munce is now training in partnership with his father Chris at Eagle Farm. Picture: Supplied

Most people would take fright at the prospect of flying a plane, but Corey Munce says it is horse training that is the harder task as the former pilot looks to take off in his new career with his legendary father Chris.

Corey Munce, 29, had his sights set on a career in aviation, but a shortage of jobs saw him make a move to his second love in racing, where he was forced to start from the bottom.

Now in a training partnership with his Melbourne Cup-winning father, Munce is looking to land winners instead of planes.

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“Out of school I started my aviation degree and got my commercial license,” Munce said.

“I was in the process of applying for jobs all around Australia and it is really hard caper getting your first job because these flight schools are pumping out hundreds of students every year and there isn’t many general aviation jobs around.

Corey Munce watching his father Chris at Randwick in 2005. Picture: Mark Evans

“I started working in the stable while I was doing that, racing is something I always wanted to do, but I found it hard to do while I was training to be a pilot.

“I took the opportunity and I was thrown in the deep end quickly, I was expected to do more than I actually did.

“As time went on, it is something that I set myself for and something I wanted to do, especially with my old man.

“It was a few years before Covid, so when it hit, I had a job and my mates who came out of flight school didn’t.”

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Asked what is the harder task out of flying or training horses, Munce emphatically said it is the latter.

While his father is a grand slam-winning jockey, Munce admits he didn’t understand the gravity of his achievements when he was growing up.

“I followed racing and always had an interest in it, but I wish I was a bit older to appreciate what he was doing at the time,” Munce said.

Chris Munce with son and now training partner Corey along with daughter Caitlin in 2000.

“I was a bit naive and didn’t really know the importance of what he was doing until I got into my later years of high school.

“That's probably why flying was the childhood dream, there isn’t much exposure for being a horse trainer when you’re growing up, they’re not the ones at the fairs and those things.

“I have been privileged and able to travel, so it is something I wanted to do, and I guess I achieved it.

“I’m the sort of person that if I have a challenge at hand, I don’t give up until I finish.

“That is the thing with racing, I have thought about this a few times, I don’t know at what point in your career you would be satisfied, it is kind of a ever ending cycle.”

With a strong team entered for Doomben on Saturday, Munce identified Kahlisee as the stable’s best winning chance in the $125,000 QTIS 3YO Plate.

Originally published as Corey Munce goes from flying planes to landing winners in training partnership with legendary father Chris