Superstar jockey James McDonald had his gun filly poised outside the leader and presented as cooly as the most experienced of riders as the field swung for home in the race his record-breaking pursuit began.
Peter McKay, a Kiwi trainer with the happy knack of always having a good horse or two in his stable, had issued a simple instruction to the teenager tasked with riding Special Mission for what proved to his first Group 1 win 18 years ago.
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“Just go out there and ride it like it is a maiden race,” McKay recalled telling McDonald ahead of the Group 1 NZTB Breeders Stakes at Te Aroha in 2008.
McDonald, who on Saturday could break Damien Oliver’s all-time Group 1 record for Australian-based jockeys, had impressed McKay with his horsemanship and dedication.
In the lead-in to the Group 1 race, senior jockeys in New Zealand had been chasing McKay for the ride, with some pondering his sanity for using a baby-faced kid, who was only 16, in such a big race.
But that kid had a good head on his shoulders and the sweetest of hands as well. He rode like he had been born on the back of a horse and furthered those skills when riding around the farm with his mum Dianne.
“I took the kids (James and brother Luke) out of school (to go) hunting every now and then and I’d call it ‘life education day’,” Dianne McDonald told racing.com in 2022.
“We had hounds and we’d chase hares, but we’d go through beautiful farms and we’d jump whatever was in front of us. There were lots of wire fences, hedges, and you’d jump the lot.
“Both my boys loved it. It was just such fun. I hope they look back with joy on those times. I know I do.”
McDonald was a natural in pony ranks, a hoop who learnt nuance in equestrian pursuits.
“It was all about rhythm. You get judged on that. He was so grounded on that from a very early age. It’s gone into his head somehow,” she said.
“Just knowing your stride and keeping your horse on the right leg, it’s all second nature to him. It’s just there. It’s in his brain.”
Acclaimed as the World Jockey of the Year in 2021 and 2024, McDonald was not gift-wrapped the ride on Special Mission, McKay said.
He earnt it through his diligence, making the journey from the family farm near Cambridge to McKay’s boutique stable in Matamata a couple of times a week to ride work.
“We are only a small stable and there were a few apprentices here who would walk past us and not bother coming around. But he was very obliging and he had a natural affinity to ride. You could see then he was a natural horseman,” McKay told foxsports.com.au on Friday.
“I knew his father and mother quite well and he had had a few rides for us before that and ridden three or four winners. He rode Special Mission like he was a senior jockey, not an apprentice. We were very happy to have him on board.”
That rhythm McDonald’s mum referred to was evident all the way back then, for as Special Mission hit the front early in the straight, the young apprentice was still to reach for the persuader. Challenges came left and right but his mount was brave.
As Special Mission passed the post, caller George Simon was clearly in awe of the deed.
“I reckon it is a special moment for James McDonald. I reckon he has got it on Special Mission. It is his first Group 1 but this is deadset close,” he calls.
“It is going to be a special moment for young James McDonald. It is a name you are going to hear for a heck of a long time.”
Simon was accurate in calling the finish, just as McKay’s gut feeling about McDonald proved right. The 16-year-old was almost speechless when quizzed on demounting.
“It is unbelievable. I had goosebumps going past the post. It was just unreal. I hope I can do it for a few more … It is a great feeling,” he said, bearing the shyest of smiles, the boy who had just outridden the men.
McDonald was wearing the striking McKay stable silks – blue with a gold lightning bolt emblazoned on the chest – and they foretold the future. Lightning had struck and the rider of a generation was on the path to greatness.
THE HISTORIC MOMENTS, THE HURDLE AND THE HEROES OF THE TURF
The Group 1 honour roll the Sydney-based rider has produced in the 18 years since tells a story of greatness.
It features the names of legendary gallopers including Romantic Warrior, Anamoe, Via Sistina, Nature Strip, Verry Elleegant, Anamoe, It’s A Dundeel and so many more stars of the turf.
There are Hall of Fame trainers whose surnames are synonymous with Australasian racing. Waterhouse. Waller. Cummings. James. Baker. And so on.
Global glory is a part of it. The King’s Stand at Royal Ascot in 2022 on Nature Strip. All those Group 1 wins on Romantic Warrior in Hong Kong, but also in Japan and the UAE.
There is the moment of triumph in the race that stops the nation, the Melbourne Cup, aboard Verry Elleegant in 2021, and too many other Derby, Oaks, Cups and sprint classics to list.
And what might just be his most remarkable triumph, the four-peat he has produced with Anamoe, Romantic Glory and Via Sistina over the past four years to win the Cox Plate, is there on that honour roll as well.
There have been hurdles to overcome, the biggest being the 18-month ban he received back in 2016 for backing the star colt Astern he was riding a year earlier in a race at Randwick.
It cost him his premier role with Godolphin, the world’s biggest stable, and in self-reflection he pondered whether he would be welcomed back to racing. But plenty remembered his work ethic, his politeness, his drive to succeed and, of course, his talent.
“My 18-month ban and the loss of the job with Godolphin in 2016 when things were going so well was a hard pill to swallow, but we all make mistakes in life and mine was a big one,” he told Owner-Breeder Magazine in 2022.
“I was found in breach of the rules on betting, but I can honestly say now that good came from bad, and I turned it into a positive. It was difficult not being allowed near horses, or anyone in the yard, so I got away from racing completely. I went travelling in Europe for three months and then went home to the dairy farm. I blew out a little bit, but it wasn’t too difficult to get fit again.
“I did wonder if I’d ever get back to where I was, and I was a little nervous about how people would respond to me, but I came back with great determination. I wasn’t going to fail – and I haven’t looked back.”
NAILING THE TIMING
McDonald has five Group 1 rides on Saturday’s card including Fireball in the helter-skelter Golden Slipper sprint that is the world’s richest two-year-old race.
All are for legendary trainer Chris Waller and champion mare Autumn Glow, unbeaten and chasing her 11th win in the Ryder Stakes, is the standout performer.
It is not by chance that McDonald, who has 128 Group 1 wins among the thousands of winners he has ridden, has a card of good rides at Rosehill on Saturday.
Timing is everything for a jockey. A split-second decision when riding can prove the difference between Group 1 glory and disaster in a sport with the highest-stake – rising ones life – happens every time the barriers open.
It is the same off the track. Knowing your form is crucial. Jockeys and their team need to assess which race a hopeful might go to and what their rivals are doing. Masters of the trade will have multiple options and choosing the best one is critical.
His riding agent Mark Guest told this writer in a chat a couple of years ago that McDonald was thorough with his homework and was “all over” the direction a good horse is going, as well as knowing what his rival hoops were up to.
But personality matters as well. McKay described him as an obliging teenager. Not much has changed there. A good jockey engages with trainers and owners and understands the demands.
“You still need to be able to ride but it does help. Mac has never burnt any bridges, at least not any that I know of,” Guest said this week.
His affinity with the prolific Waller is strong and the fellow Kiwi spoke of his admiration for McDonald, who is married to former jockey and television presenter Katelyn Mallyon, and what he has achieved this week.
“James is great to work with, he is very professional, and he lives for the sport,‘’ Waller said.
“He’s an all-round athlete, he works on his fitness, he works on the mental side of it to stay sharp and strong, and to deal with the day-to-day challenges he has as a father, as a sportsman and an elite athlete.
“He has some great rides, some good rides for us as well. It would be great for the sport to witness something with a jockey so young, so professional and it would be amazing story if it could be achieved.‘’
Champion jockey Damien Oliver went up against the father-of-two in the saddle for well over a decade and said the quality of his talent was always abundant.
“My record is looking pretty shaky for the weekend,” Oliver told Trackside TV this week.
“I think you have got to be very competitive. I think what you have seen in him and what I can relate to myself is putting your horses in the best position and giving them the best chance to win. He is very consistent. He doesn’t ride too many bad races. On the big occasions, he usually gets it right.
“I was doing some research this week – I knew it was coming up – and I think he has ridden 12 Group 1s on Romantic Warrior, eight on Anamoe, eight or nine on Via Sistina and Verry Elleegant similar, and Nature Strip was another, so I think there are five or six horses there he has won 50 Group 1 races on.
“He has been very fortunate, although he has earnt his position riding these horses, but to string horses like that together … it is going to happen sooner rather than later.”
THE GOLDEN GLOW
When quizzed about breaking Oliver’s record this week, McDonald was typically self-deprecating and said he would prefer the chat focused on the talent of his horses.
“This should be more about what Autumn Glow is trying to achieve, Aeliana and those types of horses, they are the main show,‘’ McDonald said.
“Group 1 races are hard to come by, they are hard to win, they are never easy, you need everything to fall into place. It (Oliver’s record pursuit) is what it is. I’m in a very privileged position where I can ride the best racehorses in the land, arguably some of the best in the world.
“I’m out to give Autumn Glow, Aeliana, Autumn Boy, Fireball and Generosity their best possible chance, as well as my rides in the undercard. If I can execute well, then I’m sure we can capitalise, and I have no doubt I have the horses to do it. They have been beautifully prepared and are ready to go.‘’
Autumn Glow, in particular, and Aeliana are considered his best chances of securing the two triumphs he needs to surpass Oliver, though the other three are all live chances.
It is the former who has the potential to be Australia’s next superstar horse – it could be argued she is already there after ten straight wins to start her career – after the retirement of Via Sistina last year.
“What Autumn Glow is trying to achieve is outstanding,‘’ McDonald told reporters.
“She couldn’t be any better. She looks great. Her work has been faultless and her demeanour has not changed one bit as we have come to know from her.
“This is another big jump for her but she hasn’t put a foot wrong. She hasn’t let us down yet and I’m sure she won’t on Saturday. She is still maturing (and) she is getting better and better. Her racing style has improved. She is not hitting flat spots so much anymore and she is getting stronger. She is still lightly raced (and) she has been beautifully handled.
“The Ryder is such a prestigious race (but) she is ready to tackle it and I’m sure she will come through with flying colours.‘’
When speaking of Autumn Glow and his other rides at Rosehill, McDonald could not have been more effusive, his eagerness for start time to arrive clearly apparent.
This does not surprise McKay, the trainer who provided him with his first Group 1 winner, because it was clear from the get-go that McDonald loved nothing more than being in the saddle.
“He always has. He will be out there riding a nice horse and enjoying it. There would be nowhere he would rather be,” he said.
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