The racing season has been going for just ten weeks but jockey James McDonald is on track to nudge $1m in earnings should he continue his blistering form at Randwick, including a victory on Nature Strip in Saturday’s The Everest.
McDonald bagged his sixth group 1 on Wednesday, cutting the corner at Caulfield to win the Thousand Guineas on the Chris Waller-trained Madame Pommery.
The breakdown of McDonald’s income would make him the envy of every NRL and AFL player in the country.
Jockeys earn five per cent of all prizemoney, which means McDonald has earned $482,050 in prizemoney from his rides that have netted a staggering $9.641m.
He has collected $38,805 in riding fees based on $235 a ride in NSW, plus $3888 from his 16 rides in Victoria at $243, not to mention 144 barrier trials that pay $82.25 a ride.
McDonald’s overall income sits at $532,587, but that can skyrocket should he win The Everest, with the five per cent cut for the jockey being $310,000. More than $100,000 will hop into the bank account should he win the likes of the Kosciuszko on It’s Me, and the Sydney Stakes on In The Congo – two horses that are in the market.
On The Money … James McDonald after riding Nature Strip on Thursday.Credit:Nick Moir/SMH
Champion Hong Kong jockey Zac Purton said at the start of the week that McDonald was wasting his time staying in Australia and could make a lot more trying his luck in the Asian racing mecca.
“At the end of the day, when he looks at his bank account, and he looks at my bank account, he’s stupid for staying in Australia,” Purton told SEN radio.
“He can stay there, win all the trophies and get all the accolades, and at the end of his career he will [still] have a mortgage on his home. Financially it doesn’t make sense.”
McDonald, who is nearly ten years younger than Purton, said the money was nice, but the best part about his job was the chance to ride topline horses every week.
To prove how often McDonald rides quality horses, of his 179 rides, only 20 have started at double-figure odds.
“I ride because of the love of the horse and to compete,” McDonald told the Herald on Thursday.
“It was a childhood dream growing up wanting to be a jockey, then you can only dream again about riding horses like Nature Strip, Verry Elleegant and an Anamoe. And to ride them all in the one season, and over different distances, it’s so good.
“Hopefully, they [my best years] are ahead. We have a good partnership with Chris [Waller], and hopefully the good horses keep coming through.”
McDonald always loved Darren Beadman, and maintains “the ‘ol’ Dazzler’ retired too early”, and “I wish he was still going”.
James McDonald and Nature Strip stretch the legs at Rosehill on Thursday morning.Credit:Nick Moir/SMH
Waller said McDonald never obsessed with money and was pretty confident in saying, “he wouldn’t even know what The Everest is worth”.
As for going back to back with Nature Strip, McDonald said he was going as good as he was before he won at Royal Ascot earlier this year.
“He’s like a Latrell Mitchell bursting at the seams, ready to explode – he’s a scary sight when he’s up and running,” McDonald said.
“Actually, I like the Roosters, so I’ll say he’s like James Tedesco.
“That England trip did wonders for him. He hadn’t worked any better than he had, ever, leading into that [Royal Ascot] race. He was incredible. And he feels similar now. He’s just a happy horse. Confidence breeds confidence, and that’s what he’s got.”
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