While he has ridden countless great males in Australia and Hong Kong, horses like Dundeel, Nature Strip, Anamoe and Romantic Warrior to mention just a few, almost all his highest-level New Zealand victories have come on mares.
Since his first group 1 win on mare Special Mission in 2008 he has won one Telegraph with Guiseppina, one NZ Derby on Silent Achiever and one Auckland Cup on Shez Sinsational. All girls.
He has also won a couple of Ellerslie’s weight-for-age group 1s, the NZ Stakes on Scarlett Lady (the name sort of gives it away) and two Zabeels Classics, one on Shez Sinsational and one on True Enough, the only boy on that entire list.
J-Mac’s favourite NZ female horses, with one special Aussie allowed
1: Winx: “No comment needed. But I only rode her once.”
2: Verry Elleegant: “She was just so tough, she tried so hard. She was very special to me.”
3: Silent Achiever: “I don’t think people remember how good she was. She was great both sides of the Tasman.”
4: Guiseppina: “When she won the Telegraph (2012) she went unbelievable and it meant a lot to me to win for Sir Peter (Vela).”
And the bolter….
5: Zarzuela: “She was a really good filly we never saw the best of and potentially was as good as some of the great mares I’ve ridden. She retired after finishing third in the (2010) NZ Oaks.”
“I’ve never had anybody ask me about it before but I have very rarely ridden a standout male galloper in New Zealand,” McDonald ponders.
“Obviously I have been on some great colts and geldings in Australia and around the world but I don’t mind that so many of [my] best NZ rides have been fillies and mares.
“When you get an association with a great mare, like Verry Elleegant, you grow to love them because you can feel them giving you their all.
“When you get them with you, they give you everything, whereas the good colts can be off and on.”
Developing a special bond with mares — let’s not forget McDonald has also ridden the incomparable Winx and Imperatriz — is not all about the tender loving care people may think.
“You know what I have found with the great mares? They don’t like being fussed over,” he says.
“You might love them, but be kind to them then leave them alone.
“Verry Elleegant was like that, so too was Winx even though she wasn’t my horse, she was Hughie’s [Bowman].”
McDonald, who lights up when he talks about Silent Achiever, will tomorrow be not fussing over Velocious from barrier 6 in the 2-year-old Karaka Millions.
“I think she is the best horse in the race so far and I think we can get into the right spot to win,” he says.
“She looks a pro and I’m happy to be on her but there are some nice horses drawn inside her with top jockeys on so it is going to be a good race.
“But I wouldn’t swap my ride, simple as that.”
McDonald loves what he has seen from Orchestral in the build-up to the $1.5m 3-year-old climax to tomorrow night. And while some may question her inside barrier draw, it could be perfect.
Most expect Pendragon to lead from barrier 4 and Orchestral may not be a gate flyer but if she can hold The Weapon and Tokyo Tycoon at the start she could end up in a surprise trail.
Her chances of doing that? The Weapon has been slow away or settled back in all three career starts, while Tokyo Tycoon has only settled in the first two once in his nine-start career.
If Orchestral relaxes on the back of Pendragon, who has run up the track the past two times he has raced right-handed and is even more likely to do so over 1600m, she becomes the clear horse to beat.
If she can’t hold that trailing spot she is still a great chance to get a rails gap or outside split, while fantastic filly Molly Bloom will have to cover more ground in a race that could lack tempo.
James McDonald, Ellerslie and fast fillies. We have seen this movie before, you know how it ends.
