TDN AusNZ: Where are you from and what is your earliest racing memory?
James Mitchell: I was born in Sydney, raised in Kensington around the corner from Dad’s (Bill) Randwick stables before moving to Melbourne at age 13. My earliest racing memories involve being at the races whenever I could, one particular day when I was 8-years-old, Kenwood Melody (Royal Academy {USA}) won the 1998 Listed Ming Dynasty and I’d been allowed to have a small bet on him. I think I won $50, I’d never seen so much money before.
TDN AusNZ: Which is your favourite racehorse of all time? Why?
JM: Dignity Dancer (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}), he was a freak who won the 1998 G1 Spring Champion S. by about 6l in track-record time before winning the first Melbourne Triple Crown series culminating in the G1 Australian Guineas. I believe he would have won anything he ran in at four but hurt himself at the start of the season and was never the same.
TDN AusNZ: Do you have a favourite day on a racecourse? Why?
JM: VRC Derby Day. It’s the best of everything about racing: the best horses, big crowds, an unbelievable atmosphere. Bloody good fun.
I went to Santa Anita for the Breeders’ Cup last year, the most beautiful backdrop for a racecourse I’ve seen with the sun setting over the mountains behind.
TDN AusNZ: Could you tell us how you got into this industry, about your job now and what you love most about it?
JM: I was always around the stables as a kid and used to love going to trackwork and the races. I now run a bloodstock business in partnership with Bill. I love being at the sales inspecting horses and trying to find the next good one, the thrill of an auction gets me going and even more so when you land the horse you’ve liked most. Whether it’s weanlings, yearlings or mares, I love it all.