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Former top Sydney jockey Mark de Montfort has commenced working with the Racing NSW apprentice jockey mentoring team as Head Jockey Coach for apprentice jockeys and riders.

De Montfort won many major races during more than three decades in the saddle and will bring a vast amount of knowledge and experience to Racing NSW and assist its Australian Racing and Equine Academy partnership with TAFE Western Sydney.

“Mark de Montfort was a top-class jockey and had a very successful riding career,” said Racing NSW Chief Executive, Peter V’landys AM.

“Mark also enjoyed plenty of success as a trainer so his experience as a horseman will be invaluable to students learning their trade.

“We are delighted Mark has joined Racing New South Wales to head up the coaching team and share his knowledge and strategies to continually coach and improve our riders in NSW.”

Mark de Montfort said: “As both a jockey and a trainer I have been working with horses and young riders all my life.

"I am pleased I can pass on some of my experience to apprentice jockeys and I’m very much looking forward to my new role at Racing NSW.”

Mark de Montfort Profile In an outstanding riding career, Mark de Montfort won 13 Group One events along with many other feature races as a jockey including the 1999 Golden Slipper for Frank Cleary on Catbird and captured an autumn treble during 1987 on Myocard – the Group 1 Rawson Stakes (now the Ranvet Stakes), Gr 1 Tancred Stakes (now The BMW) and Gr 1 AJC Australian Derby for Rosehill’s Dr Geoff Chapman.

Other major wins included the Gr 1 George Ryder Stakes, Gr 2 Canterbury Stakes and Gr 2 Apollo Stakes on Quick Flick as well as the 2001 Epsom Handicap on Final Fantasy.

Once he turned his hand to training, de Montfort also had his fair share of success with one of his best gallopers being McClintock (won the Gr 3 Bill Ritchie Handicap at Royal Randwick and the Gr 3 Moonga Stakes at Caulfield). His most recent winner was Biscuit who scored at Bathurst on 19 September.

De Montfort will lead the coaching and mentoring team of former top jockey Rodney Quinn (Metropolitan and Provincial areas), Group One-winning trainer Pat Webster (Provincial & Country), and former successful NSW jockeys Jamie Whitney (Country), and Dale Jeffries and Brad Clark (both newly appointed additions to the Country area).