A brilliant young apprentice, Malcolm Johnston left his mark with the champion, Kingston Town

Born in Parramatta in 1956, and raised in Forbes, Malcolm Johnston entered the stables of Sydney trainer, Theo Green, as a stable hand in 1971. Eighteen months later he was indentured to Green as an apprentice, and in September 1973, rode his first metropolitan winner at Rosehill. A tremendously gifted young rider, Johnston was one of the most successful apprentices in Australian turf history. In his first full season in 1973-74 he rode 40 winners on Sydney tracks. In 1974-75 he was the leading apprentice with 65 wins. In 1975-76 his total of 107 ½ wins gained him both the apprentices’ and the senior jockeys’ premierships, and broke the record for wins by an apprentice of 106 set by Jack Thompson in 1940-41. His fist victory in a big race was in the 1976 VRC Lightning Handicap on Desirable, trained by Colin Hayes. He added his third apprentices’ title in 1976-77 with 67 ½ wins. Johnston’s dominance was such that the AJC was moved to amend its Rules of Racing. The new Rule provided that apprentices would lose their claim when they had ridden 60 winners. Johnston had already won 195 metropolitan races before the AJC adopted the new Rule.

Johnston completed his apprenticeship in October, 1977, and immediately began riding trackwork for trainer Tommy Smith. In January, 1978, he replaced Kevin Langby as principal rider for Smith’s Tulloch Lodge, a position he held until 1983. With Smith he enjoyed great success, winning another Sydney premiership in 1977-78 with 115 wins, and four times being runner-up. He would probably have won more premierships but for his time-off due to injury and his frequent bouts of suspension – more than 50 throughout his career. Among his many feature race wins were Caulfield, Sydney and Adelaide Cups, a Cox Plate, Doncaster Handicap, three Epsom Handicaps, and AJC, QTC and WATC Derbies. Altogether, he had 141 metropolitan stakes winners, 37 at Group 1 level. The highpoint of his career was his association with the champion Kingston Town, on whom he won 25 of that horse’s 30 victories. The duo almost took the 1982 Melbourne Cup but lost to Gurners Lane as Johnston admitted to starting the finishing run early, leaving Kingston Town drained towards the finishing line.

His skills took him across the globe to England, France, Hong Kong, the Middle East, and New Zealand. In 1983 Johnston broke with Tommy Smith and took up a contract to ride in Singapore. Returning to Australia in 1985 he quickly re-established himself, and won his third Sydney jockeys’ premiership in 1986-87. He continued to ride until 1993. One of the most popular jockeys of his era, Malcolm ‘Miracle’ Johnston was a superstar of the racing world. His partnership with Kingston Town between 1979-1982 was unstoppable, winning the Cox Plate amongst many glittering victories. Johnston is most renowned for his association with the horse which he rode in 25 of the horse's 30 victories. Johnston retired in 1993, having ridden over 2000 winners, including 39 at Group One level. No matter what, Malcolm Johnston was a naturally gifted jockey who later made the decision to take up training in 1997. He established his headquarters at Hawkesbury, training over 200 winners that included Stakes winners like Stella Maree and Shags. Johnston was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame.