Confidence, Class & The Canadian Dream – Ryan Munger

Jockey Ryan Munger is set to take flight once again, this time with his sights firmly set on glory.

After competing on Champions Day at Turffontein, he will return to Canada for his third stint as a freelance rider at Toronto’s renowned Woodbine Racing Centre.

Having already impressed in two successful campaigns, Munger heads back more determined than ever – ready to make his mark as a serious Canadian championship contender in the upcoming season.

At the time of writing, Munger boasts an impressive 18.86% winning strike rate for his three-month return to South African racing – fourth only to Richard Fourie, Gavin Lerena and Piere Strydom (8 months of the season completed).

To put this into perspective, Munger’s average strike rates for the 2019/20, 2020/21, and 2021/22 local racing seasons were 8%, 6%, and 9.5% respectively. Last year, during the same January-March period, he recorded a 13% win rate – making his current form a career-best testament to his growth and refinement as a jockey.

Munger has undeniably sharpened his craft, evolving into a more confident and polished rider. His progress hasn’t gone unnoticed, earning him a series of high-profile rides in Gauteng – clear recognition of his rising stature in the saddle.

He spoke about his steady climb up the ranks: “I’ve spent about eight years as a professional jockey, going through the motions and doing well enough. But in the last year, something just clicked. Maybe it’s fair to say that if you improve ten different race-riding skills by just 1% each, you get a 10% overall improvement. And perhaps that’s what happened to me.”

Munger attributes his development to a surge in confidence. While he was never lacking in self-belief, his experiences in Canada elevated him to a new mindset.

He has a top-flight agent and a high-level performance training coach, and describes the circuit as even more competitive than South Africa.

He said: “There are at least 10 world-class riders, including Sahin Civaci, who won the 2024 title with 170 winners, Rafel Hernandez, Patrick Husbands and Eclipse award- winning Emma Jayne Wilson, the former USA Champion Apprentice and multiple Group 1 winner.”

Munger, who finished last season in seventh place with 52 winners, enlisted the services of Mike Luidir, former agent to the injured Wilson, to manage his career.

He explained that jockeys’ agents in Canada and the U.S. operate as high-profile business managers, handling everything from securing morning gallop rides to race day bookings, media commitments, and selected dinner meetings with owners and trainers. For their expertise and connections, they are contracted to receive 25% of a jockey’s earnings.

Agents attend morning gallops at Woodbine between 6am and 10am every day, where they speak to trainers to secure rides. Racing takes place every day from Thursday to Sunday and Munger said he normally gets a good book of rides at the Saturday and Sunday meetings “When I came here for the first time in 2023, Mike Luidir helped me secure my first ride, which was a chance ride to replace an injured jockey – and it won! I also won my second race, which gave me the perfect start. Mike’s policy is quality over quantity. He’s an avid student of form and always aims to get me on horses with a genuine winning chance. I only work the horses that I am officially booked to ride on race days, normally on fast-work mornings. This schedule allows me to take Mondays off and go to the gym a few times a week.”

His new, balanced approach has made a monumental difference to Munger’s energy levels and performance.

He explained, “I work with Steve McCallum, a fitness instructor and mentor to top ice hockey teams. He focuses on flexibility and targeting specific strength areas to improve my overall conditioning. I always thought that riding between 10 and 20 horses on a typical gallop day in South Africa was enough, but now I realise how wrong I was. The gym work is science. It makes you feel good, and it’s a game-changer.”

On the racecourse itself, he gets to ride on Woodbine’s big days with the likes of Irad Ortiz, jr., Frankie Dettori, William Buick and John Velasquez and remarked: “Competing against the world’s best riders is always an exciting challenge, but being competitive goes beyond individual rivalry. To start, the tracks at Woodbine are different. There are two grass tracks and a tapeta track and they are more racey. Gate speed is a big issue here. You have to bounce your mounts out as quick as you can. I’ve learnt a few tricks, for sure.

“The other thing trainers in Canada insist on, is changing leads,” Munger explained.

“They want to see their horses switch to their most comfortable leg at the right time during a race. To them, this is even more important than securing a good early position from a favourable draw. They’d rather have a horse running three wide but changing legs at the right moment. Balance and good timing are crucial skills that come with practice.

“Often, it’s these factors that make the difference between winning and losing. That’s why South Africans like Piere Strydom and Andrew Fortune are so exceptional at what they do and have enjoyed such longevity in their careers. Just when you think you’ve outsmarted them in a race, they come back to beat you. They are masters of the race-defining riding skills, always a step ahead when it matters most.”

Munger said that Corne Spies-trained William Robertson benefitted from a better start in the recent Grade 2 JJ The Jet Plane Stakes. “There was a perception that he wasn’t quick enough to win over 1000m, but I got him to jump on terms and we had a good early position. He was all over his speedy rivals fully 500m from home. It helped that the sting was out of the ground, but William Robertson is a terrific horse, a soldier. He can win on fast ground too, and I believe he is the horse to beat in the Grade 1 Computaform Sprint.”

He also had praise for Mike and Mathew de Kock’s three-year-old colt, Immediate Edge, winner of the Listed Hawwaam Stakes and seen as a 2025 Durban July contender. “He is brave and tough and won that race despite traffic problems. He is still improving and his heart should take him places.”

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