Poised for another strike on Hong Kong, China\u2019s rich races, champion jockey James McDonald arrives from Australia this week in career-equalling top form for the start of a seven-week riding stint in the Asian racing hub.<\/p>
He arrives after signing off from the Melbourne Cup Carnival with a victory on champion mare Via Sistina, who mirrored what the pair achieved last year by winning back-to-back Group 1 victories in the W.S. Cox Plate (2040m) and the Champions Stakes (2000m).<\/p>
A regular visitor to Hong Kong, McDonald is eyeing success in the LONGINES International Jockeys\u2019 Championship (IJC) at Happy Valley on 10 December, and four days later, to ride Romantic Warrior to a record-breaking fourth successive HK$40 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) triumph at Sha Tin.<\/p>
While Australia likes to claim the expatriate as their own, he is New Zealand born and bred and proud to represent his native country in the LONGINES IJC against a selection of the world\u2019s best jockeys including Great Britain\u2019s Ryan Moore (subject to fitness) and William Buick, last year\u2019s winner Mickael Barzalona (France), Joao Moreira (Brazil), Christophe Lemaire (Japan) and Umberto Rispoli (United States of America). The international contingent, which includes female riders Rachel King (Australia) and Hollie Doyle (Great Britain), will also compete against three of Hong Kong, China\u2019s top jockeys, headed by Zac Purton.<\/p>
McDonald said he was excited to return to Hong Kong, China, where he has plenty to look forward to with his wife Katelyn and their two young daughters before returning to Sydney just before Christmas.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”8848″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
He said the LONGINES IJC was always a challenge because of the calibre of jockeys, and he hopes to improve on his third in 2014 and seconds in 2011, 2021 and 2024.<\/p>
\u201cIt\u2019s very good for my riding because there are such good riders there,\u201d he said.<\/p>
\u201cIt\u2019s something to really look forward to and again it\u2019s a great challenge because it\u2019s so competitive and I always enjoy my time there.<\/p>
\u201cNot only is there great racing, but I\u2019ve also got the legend of Romantic (Warrior) there, so I just can\u2019t wait to see him first and foremost.<\/p>
\u201cCompeting in the jockeys\u2019 challenge is always a highlight of the year and then especially the international races in December.\u201d<\/p>
Asked if he thought Romantic Warrior, who is returning after undergoing fetlock surgery in May, had been okay in a recent 1600m turf trial at Sha Tin, when ridden by Hugh Bowman, McDonald said: \u201cBetter than okay, I would have thought.<\/p>
\u201cHe is a flying and Danny (Shum) has done a fantastic job with him, and he has been complimentary, as has Hugh.<\/p>
\u201cI can\u2019t wait, obviously.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”8847″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
The 33-year-old said it was pretty much unheard of for a horse to chase four consecutive victories in a race like the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup.<\/p>
\u201cIt is just incredible how good he is,\u201d he said. \u201cFour in a row (in the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup) would be lovely.\u201d<\/p>
Via Sistina\u2019s second W.S. Cox Plate was McDonald\u2019s fourth victory in the weight-for-age race, a feat only achieved by Bowman.<\/p>
\u201cIt was an incredible feeling, very surreal,\u201d McDonald said of the win.<\/p>
\u201cIt was a different type of feeling than the other three, that\u2019s for sure and what would only trump it would be a fourth Hong Kong Cup, so I am hoping that happens.\u201d<\/p>
McDonald is used to success in Hong Kong this year, winning all three legs of the Triple Crown \u2013 HK$13 million G1 Stewards\u2019 Cup (1600m), HK$13 million G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) and HK$13 million G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) with Voyage Bubble.<\/p>
With 122 Group 1 victories, success in Hong Kong would allow McDonald to edge closer to retired jockey Damien Oliver\u2019s Australian record of 129 wins at the elite level.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”8846″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Poised for another strike on Hong Kong, China\u2019s rich races, champion jockey James McDonald arrives from Australia this week in career-equalling top form for the start of a seven-week riding stint in the Asian racing hub.He arrives after signing off from the Melbourne Cup Carnival with a victory on champion mare… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":8849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8843"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8843"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8871,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8843\/revisions\/8871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}