James McDonald Latest News
17/01/2025
J-Mac’s Next Frontier: Middle East And Then The World?
Awarded the ‘World’s Best Jockey’ title in 2024, champion rider James McDonald joins Romantic Warrior in making his Dubai debut next week.
Andrew Hawkins
09/12/2024
Romantic Warrior And J-Mac Shine While Hayes Finds Relief
Hong Kong’s champions took out three of the four Group 1 contests at the Hong Kong International Races as Japan ended the year without a Group 1 win abroad.
David Morgan
06/12/2024
Xtension To Romantic Warrior: J-Mac’s Still Learning On The Hong Kong Curve
James McDonald will be awarded the title ‘World’s Best Jockey’ for 2024 yet Hong Kong racing is throwing enough different experiences his way to ensure he’s still developing on and off-track.
David Morgan
26/10/2024
“Would Have Pushed Her”: Waller’s Ultimate Winx Compliment To Via Sistina
Could Via Sistina follow the same path as Chris Waller’s first Melbourne Cup winner Verry Elleegant? The trainer wouldn’t be drawn, but said the mare could have provided a match for his Cox Plate legend Winx after she smashed her track record
Michael Cox
10/09/2024
“It Will Happen One Day”: James McDonald Opens Up On Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Jockey Club has openly campaigned for the champion Sydney-based, New Zealand-born rider to move to Sha Tin, but the 32-year-old doesn’t seem in a hurry to make the move full time.
Michael Cox
James McDonald’s Origin Story
James McDonald was born on January 6, 1992 in Kaipaki, New Zealand, an area along the Waikato River between Cambridge and Hamilton. His father Brett was a former jockey turned trainer and his mother Dianne is an owner and breeder. Dianne at times took McDonald and his brother Luke out of school to go hunting on horseback with hounds, leaping fences across open countryside.
McDonald was successful on the pony circuit and evolved to riding Show Hunters, but at age 14 he began riding trackwork for neighbouring trainers Alan and Linda Jones. At 15 he had his first ride as an apprentice and his first win was on Johnnie The Sand in a mile maiden at Te Rapa on August 18, 2007.
He quickly became a sensation as he won his first Group 1 race that April on Special Mission in the NZ Breeders’ Stakes, and clinched the first of four consecutive champion apprentice titles at the end of that 2007-08 season. The next year he took his first New Zealand champion jockey title, following up in 2010-11 and in 2011-12 when he became the first jockey to achieve 200 wins in a season, pushing the record to 207.
McDonald then began to make his mark overseas: in Australia he won the Queensland Oaks in 2011, and The Galaxy in April 2012, followed soon after by a first Hong Kong major, the G1 Champions Mile on the John Moore-trained Xtension. At the end of 2012 he moved to Sydney and teamed up with trainer John O’Shea, becoming the first jockey to Godolphin in Australia. In 2013 he won the G1 Randwick Guineas, G1 Rosehill Guineas and G1 Australian Derby on the New Zealand champion Dundeel, a horse he rode in all bar one of its 19 starts, for 10 wins.
What makes James McDonald so good?
McDonald’s rare talent is due to his keen understanding of horses. His innate bravery, intuition, balance, and athleticism found expression when he was introduced to horses at a young age. He broke in his own ponies and honed his skills on them at home, gaining an understanding of balance and how to instinctively get them on the right leg.
A mark of his early career was the speed with which he could pull through his whip from one hand to the other, out-riding senior jockeys. That all came about through dedication and practice throughout his youth, whether riding at the hunt or showjumping or practising his jockey style on the couch at home.
McDonald also does his homework: he understands the horses he rides, studies the competition, knows the other jockeys’ strengths and weaknesses and has developed an ability to read a race intuitively. He is a brilliant tactician, strong in a finish, beautifully-balanced and has light hands that encourage the horse to relax and run.
Why was James McDonald banned for betting?
In 2016 McDonald was banned for 18 months for benefitting to the tune of A$4,000 from a bet placed on a horse that he rode. As a result the champion lost his contract with Godolphin as well as a year and a half of his career.
What is James McDonald’s greatest achievement?
McDonald’s greatest achievement is coming back from an 18-month suspension stronger than before. After returning in mid-May 2018, he repositioned himself and became allied to fellow Kiwi and Sydney champion trainer Chris Waller. He ended the 2018-19 season with six Group 1 wins, retook the Sydney Premiership and has gone from strength to strength.
Since the ban, he has firmly established his position as one of the world’s best jockeys, winning the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA)’s World’s Best Jockey Award in 2022 and 2024. McDonald has been champion jockey in Sydney eight times and rode his 100th Group 1 win when Via Sistina took the 2024 Cox Plate.
Which horse is James McDonald most famous for riding?
Verry Elleegant and Dundeel have good cases but it must be Hong Kong’s champion Romantic Warrior. McDonald has ridden the Danny Shum-trained gelding 11 times for 10 wins. There are eight Group 1 victories among that lot, notably three Hong Kong Cup triumphs and wins in the G1 Cox Plate in Australia and the G1 Yasuda Kinen in Japan. Those wins, plus the horse and rider’s Middle East campaign in early 2025 mean Romantic Warrior has a broader international profile than any other horse he has ridden.
What is James McDonald’s most important win?
McDonald has had plenty of important wins, including a G1 Melbourne Cup victory on Verry Elleegant, but his most important could well be the 2018 G1 Caulfield Guineas on The Autumn Sun. After his 18-month ban, McDonald had something to prove to professionals and punters alike: his last Group 1 win had been Hartnell’s Turnbull Stakes in October 2016, some 22 months prior. Kerrin McEvoy was The Autumn Sun’s regular rider, but he was chasing the bigger bucks in The Everest the same day, opening the way for McDonald to pick up his only ride on the champion colt.
The subsequent victory did not mean McDonald claimed The Autumn Sun as his own, McEvoy was back in the saddle for the three-year-old’s remaining three wins. But it did show that McDonald was back on the big stage and cemented a relationship with Waller that has since yielded at least 39 Group 1 wins for the pair and famous associations with Verry Elleegant, Nature Strip and Via Sistina: he had ridden only one Group 1 winner for Waller prior to The Autumn Sun.
Did You Know?
McDonald’s partner is former jockey Katelyn Mallyon. He has been known to play golf or squash in his downtime and once rated the undefeated boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. as ‘probably’ his favourite sporting hero. When he was a young child, he wanted to be a dairy farmer and only changed tack when the former New Zealand champion jockey Lance O’Sullivan told him that being a jockey had brought in enough money to have a dairy herd.
James McDonald News
J-Mac’s Next Frontier: Middle East And Then The World?
【南征北討】麥道朗藉中東走向世界？
J-Macの次なる挑戦: 中東、そして世界展開へ、マクドナルドの未来は？
Awarded the ‘World’s Best Jockey’ title in 2024, champion rider James McDonald joins Romantic Warrior in making his Dubai debut next week.
麥道朗在 2024 年榮膺全球最佳騎師，這位紐西蘭騎師下周將與「浪漫勇士」一同在杜拜首次上陣。
2024年の世界最優秀騎手に輝いたニュージーランド出身の名手、ジェームズ・マクドナルドが、来週ロマンチックウォリアーとともにドバイで初騎乗を果たす。
Read More 閱讀更多 続きを読む Xtension To Romantic Warrior: J-Mac’s Still Learning On The Hong Kong Curve
【終身學習】從「軍事攻略」到「浪漫勇士」：麥道朗在港孜孜不倦
ロマンチックウォリアーの相棒、世界一のジェームズ・マクドナルド騎手が香港で得た「学び」
James McDonald will be awarded the title ‘World’s Best Jockey’ for 2024 yet Hong Kong racing is throwing enough different experiences his way to ensure he’s still developing on and off-track.
麥道朗將獲頒2024年世界最佳騎師。然而香港賽馬為他提供了充足且不同的體驗，令他在馬場內外均可繼續發展。
2024年の『ワールドベストジョッキー』に輝いたジェームズ・マクドナルド騎手。当時20歳でG1制覇、香港競馬での経験は自身の成長へと繋がっており、それが今の飛躍に役立っているという。
Read More 閱讀更多 続きを読む “It Will Happen One Day”: James McDonald Opens Up On Hong Kong
麥道朗就長駐香港開腔：「終有一天會發生」
「いつか実現へ」ジェームズ・マクドナルド騎手、香港移籍に言及
The Hong Kong Jockey Club has openly campaigned for the champion Sydney-based, New Zealand-born rider to move to Sha Tin, but the 32-year-old doesn’t seem in a hurry to make the move full time.
香港賽馬會一直在公開招攬這位以悉尼為策騎基地，紐西蘭出生的冠軍騎師到香港長駐。然而這位32歲的騎師似乎並不急於長駐香港。
シドニーを拠点とするNZ出身のチャンピオンジョッキー、ジェームズ・マクドナルド騎手が香港移籍の噂に言及。HKJCから熱烈な誘いを受けているが、移籍の日はまだ先のようだ。
Read More 閱讀更多 続きを読む
