Chris Johnson (jockey)

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Chris Johnson
Full nameChristopher William Johnson
OccupationJockey
BornNew Zealand
Significant horses
Canterbury Belle, Final Touch, Loader, Savvy Coup, Tartan Tights, Tycoon Lil

Chris Johnson, also known as "CWJ" or "The Magic Man", is a jockey in Thoroughbred racing in New Zealand.[1] He is most notable for holding the national record for winning rides in New Zealand and for winning the New Zealand jockeys premiership twice.

Riding career[]

Chris Johnson was apprenticed to Woodville trainer Scott Hammersley. His first winner, Noble Star trained by Hammersley, was in his first raceday ride at Tauherenikau on New Year's Day 1981.

Johnson won the New Zealand Premierships in the 1995–96 season with 139 wins and the 2017–18 season with 112 wins.[2]

He has also won several jumping features, including the Grand National Hurdles over 4200m at Riccarton Park Racecourse aboard Ampac in 1989, Woodbine Blue Chip in 1993 and Kid Colombus in 2011.[3]

In total he has won 21 Group 1 races, including:

  • the New Zealand Oaks five times, on Domino, Tartan Tights, Sawadtee, Tycoon Lil and Savvy Coup.
  • the New Zealand 1000 Guineas four times with Canterbury Belle, Phillipa Rush, Tartan Tights and Tycoon Lil.

He rode Samasaan to the New Zealand Cup and Wellington Cup double.[4] However, his most successful association with a horse was probably with the John and Karen Parsons trained mare, Final Touch, who he rode to wins in the 2013 Telegraph Handicap, 2013 Waikato Sprint and 2012 Captain Cook Stakes.[5]

His 2000th winner came at Waipukurau in 2014 and at that time he was the sixth New Zealand jockey to reach the mark after Bill Skelton, David Peake, Lance O'Sullivan, Noel Harris and David Walsh. On Saturday 19 December 2020 Johnson established a national record for race victories in New Zealand of 2452, when he road Sassenach to win at Awapuni Racecourse surpassing the previous mark set by David Walsh.[6] Johnson's record haul of wins is all the more remarkable given he gave away race riding in 1998 and did not return until seven years later in 2005.

On 10 February 2022, at Invercargill, Johnson rode Lincoln Hills to his 2,500th New Zealand race victory.

Notable victories[]

The following are some of the major races Chris has won.

Year
 Race
 Horse
 Trainer(s)
1984 New Zealand 1000 Guineas Canterbury Belle D M Kerr
1985 New Zealand Cup Samasaan Garth Jackson
1986 Wellington Cup Samasaan Garth Jackson
1988 Auckland Cup Sea Swift Peter & Dawn Williams
1989 Grand National Hurdles Ampac DJ (Ned) Thistoll & Gail Whitnall
1989 New Zealand 1000 Guineas Phillipa Rush J W Campin
1990 New Zealand Oaks Domino J W Campin
1991 Wellington Hurdles Decoy Lad Neil Coulbeck
1992 Captain Cook Stakes Rough Habit John Wheeler
1992 New Zealand Cup Mercator RB & Mrs LM Dowling
1993 Grand National Hurdles Woodbine Blue Chip Neil Coulbeck
1993 New Zealand 2000 Guineas Facing the Music Mike Ingram
1994 New Zealand Cup Double Take RB & Mrs LM Dowling
1994 New Zealand 1000 Guineas Tartan Tights E A Winsloe
1995 New Zealand Oaks Tartan Tights E A Winsloe
1996 Railway Stakes Loader Peter & Dawn Williams
1996 Telegraph Handicap Loader Peter & Dawn Williams
1997 Waikato Sprint Avedon F P Campbell
1997 New Zealand Oaks Sawatdtee A R Howatson
1997 Great Northern (TV Guide) Hurdles Clem Mrs S A Douglas
1997 New Zealand 1000 Guineas Tycoon Lil Colin Jillings & Richard Yuill
1998 New Zealand Oaks Tycoon Lil Colin Jillings
2011 Grand National Hurdles Kid Columbus Murray Hamilton
2012 Captain Cook Stakes[7] Final Touch John and Karen Parsons
2013 Telegraph Handicap[8] Final Touch John and Karen Parsons
2013 Waikato Sprint[9] Final Touch John and Karen Parsons
2018 New Zealand Oaks[10] Savvy Coup Michael & Matthew Pitman
2018 Livamol Classic[11] Savvy Coup Michael & Matthew Pitman

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Chris Johnson / Jockey Profile / RaceInfo / LOVERACING.NZ".
  2. ^ "Magic Man takes premiership win in stride". 31 July 2017.
  3. ^ "Horseracing: Jockey Chris Johnson breaks long-standing NZ record for most wins". Newshub.
  4. ^ "Flashback: When Wellington's cup went south". 19 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Wellington Cup Carnival kicks off in style". 19 January 2013.
  6. ^ "Racing: Chris Johnson breaks all-time jockey record for wins in New Zealand".
  7. ^ "Race 9 WESTBURY STUD CAPTAIN COOK STAKES at WELLINGTON RC on 8 DEC 2012 | LOVERACING.NZ".
  8. ^ "Race 9 JR & N BERKETT TELEGRAPH HANDICAP at WELLINGTON RC on 19 JAN 2013 | LOVERACING.NZ".
  9. ^ "Race 9 WAIKATO DRAUGHT SPRINT at WAIKATO RC on 9 FEB 2013 | LOVERACING.NZ".
  10. ^ "Race 8 AL BASTI EQUIWORLD DUBAI NEW ZEALAND OAKS at WELLINGTON RC on 17 MAR 2018 | LOVERACING.NZ".
  11. ^ "Race 8 LIVAMOL CLASSIC at HAWke's BAY RI on 6 OCT 2018 | LOVERACING.NZ".


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