Michael Pelling proud to be a Queensland champion

By Jordan Gerrans and Andrew Smith 

After growing up on a farm on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland, champion hoop Michael Pelling says he is content with everything he achieved on the track in his home state.

The retired jockey was one of four inductees into the Queensland Racing Hall of Fame at the 2025 Queensland Thoroughbred Awards earlier this month.

Pelling’s sparkling career in the saddle included four Group 1 victories, four Metropolitan Jockeys’ Premierships and more than 1,500 career wins. 

Now 69 years of age and long retired from the saddle, Pelling more than held his own against the great riders of his generation including Glen Boss and Mick Dittman, among others.

But, what stands out about Boss and Dittman’s career compared to Pelling’s is that they achieved high-level success in southern states as well as internationally.

While Pelling rode interstate at times during his career, the Queenslander was a force in Brisbane mostly.

He does not have any regrets about missing out on feature riding in Sydney and Melbourne as his family was his focus.

“Sometimes you reflect on the decisions and what you do in life, I must have been ok as a rider because I was competitive against Mick Dittman, Glen Boss, Graham Cook, Kenny Russell and Brian York, among others,” Pelling said.

“I held my own against all of them and they all went to Sydney or Melbourne and went to the top.

“I would have done ok down there but my thinking behind not going down there was that I was married and my wife’s family lived close by.

“We decided to be close to our family for the grandparents and grandchildren, family like that is very important.

“I was successful in Queensland; I was making good money and that was enough for me – I didn’t need any more.”

Pelling had his one and only ride in a Melbourne Cup in 1981.

As former hoop Bernadette Cooper notes, Pelling was regarded as a ‘superstar’ and ‘inspiration’ to other riders in the Brisbane and Queensland ranks during his career.

For a kid who grew up on a farm in FNQ to rise to the top of the Brisbane jockey room – Pelling was satisfied dominating on home soil.

“I am chuffed, I never would have expected this,” Pelling said of being included in the Hall of Fame.

“It is something that never would have crossed my mind and I am really proud. I was very competitive and I loved what I did.”

The Hall of Fame inductee tasted victory in three Doomben 10,000s - aboard Unequalled (1993), Suntain (1996) and Laurie’s Lottery (1999) - as well as the Group 2 1998 Queensland Guineas on Insecure.

Pelling’s fourth Group 1 was achieved in the QTC Derby with Mr Cromwell for legendary local trainer Jim Atkins.

The late Atkins and late Pat Duff were the two greatest influences in Pelling’s life as a person as well as his career as a jockey.

He arrived at Pat Duff’s stables as a 15-year-old from the Atherton Tablelands and Pelling said they found common ground in the way they viewed the world.

After both growing up with roots in the bush on the farm, Pelling and Pat Duff were cut from the same cloth. 

The revered Pat Duff passed away in November of last year with his son Michael declaring his late father would have loved to see Pelling be included into the Hall of Fame. 

“Dad would be so very, very happy that this has happened,” Michael Duff said.

“He would be so pleased that this has happened for Mick, who is someone who is so deserving of this honour.

“The only great disappointment is that he died a year ago and wasn’t here to deliver a speech himself.

“The Duff family are extremely proud of everything you are, what you have done and this great honour, Mick.”

Despite their difference in age and Pelling being an apprentice to Pat Duff, Michael says they were like brothers. 

Pat Duff is a fellow Hall of Fame member.

Michael regards Pelling like an uncle. 

“I don’t think anyone intellectualised racing the way Mick did,” the younger Duff said.

“Mick liked to think about how things worked and why things happened. He was as competitive a person as you would ever meet.

“Someone once told me that jockeys felt they had to be good jockeys in Brisbane because they had to ride against Mick every week.

“No one got a soft run with Mick Pelling.”

Former hoop Cooper smiles and says that Pelling was like a ‘junior Pat Duff’ in the way he conducted himself within the racing industry. 

As a youngster coming through the ranks when Pelling was at his peak as a rider, Cooper says he was regarded as a ‘superstar’ as well as being known for his humble nature while teaching other riders. 

“He was an incredible form student, so he was automatically someone who you wanted to follow in a race,” Cooper said.

“He always had a plan going out but he was always so subtle in the way he delivered those plans.

“He was a true horseman, so he was dictated to by how his horse reacted throughout a race.

“He was inspirational to any young jockey coming through the ranks in the early 1990s and probably at any time during his career.

“He was super professional on and off the track with the way he dressed and spoke to owners.”

Pelling also invented the Pelling Pacifiers, which are widely used to improve racehorse performance.

They are a type of blinker that has been adopted worldwide.

Michael Duff and Cooper both declared that Pelling had a curious mind and he was always looking to improve things or better understand the way things worked, which led to him inventing the Pelling Pacifiers.

“I admired him as a person for his inventive mind,” Cooper said.