I’ve had a lot of people calling me this week about James McDonald’s suspension after the Champions & Chater Cup, and I want to be upfront about something before I get into it. James is a friend. He’s a superstar. He is, without question, one of the best jockeys in the world. But one thing about me – I’m always honest. And the honest opinion is this: the stewards got it wrong, and James got off very, very lightly with three days and a HK$120,000 fine.
Let me explain why.
The stewards charged James with careless riding under Rule 100(1). Their own report says he “directed his mount in when not clear of Deep Monster.” Read that again. He directed his mount in. That’s not carelessness. Carelessness is when you’re boxed in and you push out too far in the heat of the moment. Carelessness is when you think you’re clear but you’re not. It mostly happens at the start of the race – you cross and you are not clear and misjudge. That’s carelessness.
What James did was deliberate. The stewards said it themselves – he directed Romantic Warrior in. He knew what he was doing. And look, I’ve been in that exact same position. I was on Tie The Knot in the 1999 Ranvet Stakes. I thought I could get beat, the horse on my inside was coming, and instinct took over. I shut the run down like James did on Romantic Warrior. I was first across the line but lost it on protest to Darazari. So I know what happened in James’s head. He thought for a stride, “Oh no, I can get beat here”, and all of a sudden instinct kicks in. It’s a big race, it’s the Triple Crown and a $10 million bonus on the line. Legacy and history at stake. He panicked at that moment and pushed Deep Monster and Joao Moreira back in on purpose.
There was one key difference between that ride and James’ – I didn’t raise my elbow. And there’s the real issue the stewards didn’t mention. Have a look at the head-on footage. James raised his elbow. His whole riding style changed. You can see it clearly – there’s too much separation between his arm and his body, and he’s made contact with the other horse. That is not carelessness. That is improper riding, 100 percent. You cannot raise your elbows like that. It’s a no-no. It always has been.
I remember riding at Sha Tin when Eric Saint-Martin raised his elbow to me in a race. He got two months. Brett Prebble raised his elbow and made contact with Hiroyuki Uchida in the 2010 International Jockeys’ Championship? Eight meetings. Eddy Lai got seven days for an improper riding charge after going at it with Neil Callan with elbows. I remember one day at Randwick, Darren Beadman caught Grant Cooksley with his elbow – two months. In my era, you raised your elbow and made contact, you were looking at a minimum two months. Minimum.
But suspensions have come back a long way. Stewards don’t seem to want to suspend top jockeys anymore. Is it because of their profiles and the betting turnover they generate? In today’s racing, where no one gets suspended for much anymore, what James did was still worth a month at least.
And here’s why that matters. It’s the same problem we have with the whip rules. There are jockeys who flagrantly disregard the whip rules – why? Because they can. They keep winning Group 1 races doing it, and the fines and small suspensions are nothing compared to the upside. There’s no real deterrent. So I tell every jockey now: in a big race, go for it, break the rules, because the cost is minimal and the reward is massive. That’s what happens when you don’t set proper boundaries. You need a decent penalty to stop it happening in the future. That’s what deterrents are for – to keep racing safe and fair.
What Sunday’s result has done is leave the door wide open. If that’s not improper riding, what is? Because everything about it was improper. The elbow came up, his style changed, he made contact with the other horse and its rider, and he pushed it back so it couldn’t win. In my day, that was an automatic two to three months, or more.
Now look – credit where it’s due. It was actually a great ride. James went above and beyond the boundaries to win that race, and I think his actions – albeit outside the rules – won him the race. Most people I’ve spoken to reckon without the interference, it was about a ‘70-30’ chance Deep Monster runs him down and wins. The other horse was a true stayer, he was coming back at Romantic Warrior, and he was just getting into his rhythm. So what James did was fantastic for him, fantastic for the owner and fantastic for Danny Shum.
But did he break the rules? Yes. You can’t argue that. The charge should have been improper riding, and in today’s racing – where suspensions are already too lenient for major incidents like this – he should have got at least a month. Instead he got three race days – little more than a week – and a $120,000 fine. James should go buy a lottery ticket.
Ka Ying Rising Is Horse Of The Year – It’s Not Even Close
There are people out there trying to turn this into a debate between Romantic Warrior and Ka Ying Rising for Horse of the Year. Let me save everyone the time: it’s not a debate. It’s not even close.
And I want to be clear – this is no disrespect to Romantic Warrior. He is a champion, and what he’s done is unbelievable. Winning the Triple Crown at eight years old, a record fourth QEII Cup, career earnings beyond HK$288 million – the horse is a once-in-a-generation talent. But unfortunately for him, he’s come up against what could be the best sprinter in history.
Let me lay out the facts.
This season, Romantic Warrior has had six starts for six wins, including five Group 1s and one Group 2. His Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rating sits at 126. His season prize money sits at HK$74,036,000, boosted by that HK$10 million Triple Crown bonus.
Ka Ying Rising? Eight starts, eight wins – five of them Group 1s. He swept the Hong Kong Speed Series for a second straight year. He went overseas and won The Everest – the world’s richest turf race — beating the best sprinters in the world as the first overseas horse to do it. He broke a Sha Tin track record three times this season, at both 1200 and 1400 meters. His latest rating from the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings? 130. That’s four points clear of Romantic Warrior. He’s the number one ranked horse on the planet, and that rating is the highest ever for a Hong Kong-trained horse, surpassing legends like Golden Sixty, Beauty Generation and Able Friend. His prize money this season? HK$92,598,700.
Then you look at dominance. In every single one of Ka Ying Rising’s wins, there’s been no question about whether he should have won. He has dominated the best sprinters in the world, at home and abroad. Compare that to Romantic Warrior’s last two wins – Masquerade Ball should have beaten him in the QEII Cup, 100 percent. It was a bad ride. And the Champions & Chater Cup? Well, that’s what we’ve just been talking about. James had to go beyond the rules to get the job done and he only won by half a length.
Dominance counts. And Ka Ying Rising has been dominant in a way we might never see again. He’s the best in his category in history, or very close to it. There are plenty of mile-and-a-quarter horses with a higher international rating than Romantic Warrior over the years. But at the sprint distance? Ka Ying Rising stands alone.
I love Romantic Warrior. He’s a champion. But Ka Ying Rising has done more, rated higher, gone overseas and conquered, broken records, and been utterly dominant. The 2025/26 Horse of the Year award shouldn’t even be a conversation. ∎
