Leonard Ross "Mick" Dittman (born 2 July 1952 in

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

Queensland) is a retired

Australian Racing Hall of Fame The Australian Racing Hall of Fame is part of the Australian Racing Museum which documents and honours the horseracing legends of Australia. The museum officially opened in 1981 and created the Hall of Fame in 2000. The numbers in brackets afte ...

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

. Nicknamed "The Enforcer" due to his strong use of the

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

, he was renowned for his vigour and strength in a tight finish. He rose to become one of the best jockeys in the country. Some of the achievements during his career included winning the Melbourne Cup ( Gurner's Lane), three Golden Slippers (Full On Aces, Bounding Away and Bint Marscay), two Cox Plates (

Red Anchor Red Anchor was a New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who raced in Australia. In the 1984 Spring Racing Carnival he won the Caulfield Guineas, W. S. Cox Plate and the Victoria Derby. In 2021 he was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall ...

and

Strawberry Road Strawberry Road (28 September 1979 – 1 June 1995) was a champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who went on to race in Germany, France, the United States, and Japan. Bred in New South Wales, he was by the 'superbly-bred' Whiskey Road (Ni ...

) and a Caulfield Cup (

Sydeston Sydeston (foaled 1985) was one of the best racehorses to come out of Tasmania in the history of Australian racing, and easily the best to do so in the modern era. After winning a number of races in his home state, the plain brown gelding was tran ...

). During a career spanning more than thirty years in the saddle it is estimated he has won more than 1,700 races (which included 88 Group 1 races) and through his partnership with trainer Tommy Smith also won three Sydney Jockey Premierships. Mick Dittman was inducted in the

in 2002.

References

External links

Australian Racing Museum Hall Of Fame Official Site
Australian jockeys Australian Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees 1952 births Living people Sportspeople from Rockhampton Sportsmen from Queensland {{australia-horseracing-bio-stub