As a fifteen-year-old, Felix Coetzee attended the Jockey Academy at Summerveld then served his apprenticeship with his father's racing stable.

At age sixteen, he scored his first significant win, riding Kentford to victory in the 1975 Clairwood Winter Handicap.

In 1982 he signed on with renowned Cape Town trainer Terence M. Millard with whom he was associated until his retirement in 1991.

In 1992, he accepted an offer to ride in Hong Kong for trainer Brian Kan Ping-chee.

After five successful years, he switched to riding for trainer David Hill and then in 1999 with Tony Cruz with whom he earned numerous Group One wins most notably aboard the three-time World Champion Sprinter, Silent Witness.