Love of racing: Respected jockey Michael Cahill makes retirement call as Gold Coast racing moves into a new era

Michael Cahill will hang up his saddle and riding boots at some stage next year, but has enjoyed a front-row seat to the Gold Coast coming of age as a racing club in Queensland.

Respected jockey Michael Cahill will retire in 2025. Picture: Shae Beplate

Michael Cahill will ride off into the sunset in 2025 as one of the most respected jockeys Queensland has seen, with the Gold Coast stalwart at the forefront of change on the Glitter Strip as they usher in a new era of racing.

The Stradbroke Handicap winner will retire at some point next year and is the first to admit there were doubts over whether his home track would ever see the day where they race under lights in his time.

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After years of talking, the racing finally began on Friday night, where Cahill had one ride, with the jockey saying it is the closest thing Australia will get to racing at Happy Valley, where he once plied his craft.

Turning 60 in January, Cahill said it is the perfect time to hang up his saddle at some point in the near future as he reflects on the huge changes at the Gold Coast after moving there in 1995.

“When I first moved here it was the most raced on course in Australia and they produced the track week in, week out,” he said.

“I saw it get two inches of rain on Thursday and as long as it got a chance on Friday, it would be a good track on Saturday, it was a marvellous racecourse.

“Time eventually wore it down, so it needed the renovation it got.

“Lights are something that had been spoken about for a long time, so I am glad it has finally come to fruition.

Michael Cahill (right) has been at the forefront of change on the Gold Coast.

“Having seen them, I think people will be impressed.

“It is going to be a terrific track, especially now with the lights and the extra width down the side.”

Having ridden in his first race at Gooloogong in 1979, Cahill said he has enjoyed more than he could ever have dreamt of in racing, with more than 2600 winners across Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Macau.

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The thought of retirement crossed his mind in 2022 following a fall at the Sunshine Coast in 2021, however he has continued on and will ride at Ipswich on Saturday as he continues to wind down.

“Sometime next year I will retire, I haven’t decided on a date yet, we will see how the body is holding up,” Cahill said.

“I had a good run, a very good run and I have been fortunate.

“I never envisaged I would be riding this long, it is just how it has turned out and I have slowed down the last 18 months.

“It has been in the pipeline for a while, I thought it’d be good to ride until 60 because I have been close to it for a while now.”