His first winner, Noble Star trained by Hammersley, was in his first raceday ride at Tauherenikau on New Year's Day 1981.
[2] He has also won several jumping features, including the Grand National Hurdles over 4200m at Riccarton Park Racecourse aboard Ampac in 1989, Woodbine Blue Chip in 1993 and Kid Colombus in 2011.
[4] However, his most successful association with a horse was probably with the John and Karen Parsons trained mare, Final Touch, who he rode to wins in the 2013 Telegraph Handicap, 2013 Waikato Sprint and 2012 Captain Cook Stakes.
On Saturday 19 December 2020 Johnson established a national record for race victories in New Zealand of 2452, when he road Sassenach to win at Awapuni Racecourse surpassing the previous mark set by David Walsh.
[6] Johnson's record haul of wins is all the more remarkable given he gave away race riding in 1998 and did not return until seven years later in 2005.