Horse racing: J-Mac set to 'throw some punches' on big stage

James McDonald on Nature Strip wins race 7 The Tab Everest during Everest Day at Royal Randwick Racecourse on October 16, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. Photo / Getty Images.

By Michael Guerin In London

Champion New Zealand jockey James McDonald says riding Nature Strip in tomorrow's King Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot could be the most exciting race of his incredible season.

Which is some call from the wonder jockey who has ridden the winner of Australia's two biggest races the Melbourne Cup and the Everest in the last 12 months.

McDonald will be legged up on to Nature Strip in the early hours of tomorrow (NZ time) by fellow Kiwi horseman Chris Waller as they combine to take on some of the world's best over 1000m for 500,000 pounds.

Waller and McDonald have become the kings of Sydney racing, combining to win both The Everest with Nature Strip last October and the Melbourne Cup a few weeks later with Verry Elleegant.

For most that is a career of highlights in a month but the Kiwi pair are unstoppable, Waller last week breaking the record for stakes won in a single season in Australia and McDonald so dominant he is being spoken about as potentially one of the greatest ever to come from this part of the world.

At just 30 years of age his best years may be ahead of him and all sorts of records beckon. Maybe even the No.1 ever Australasian jockey title, if such a thing exists.

Tomorrow's race (2.40am Wednesday NZ time) is different though, even if it is worth only a fraction of what the Waller and McDonald won last spring.

"The build-up has been bigger," McDonald tells the Herald.

"I know that sounds strange because The Everest is a huge event and talked about for a long time beforehand and the Melbourne Cup is the Melbourne Cup.

"They are amazing days and we are lucky to have them in Australia and it was a dream to win them both.

"But with Verry Elleegant winning the Cup we weren't even sure she was starting until a few days out and there are lots of other horses being spoken about.

"And there are also plenty of horses getting the chat before The Everest.

"But for the last year, maybe longer, racing people have been talking about Nature Strip going to Ascot.

"Then it was which race would he go to, then you need to win the lead up races to still make the trip and then travel well and the list of things you need to overcome and have go right is huge.

"All that time the chat has been about him so the build-up is longer and more focussed on one horse.

"Now he is here and judging by his work both at home and here he is ready to go.

"Ascot is a special place and this is the most special meeting. But on Tuesday all that talk stops. We have to get in the ring and throw some punches."
If Nature Strip is the Down Under hero of this story then the villain is played perfectly by US sprinter Golden Pal.

He is one of the few horses in the world with more instant early acceleration than Nature Strip, leaving the barriers like he has been shot out of a gun.

Trained by US maestro Wesley Ward, who loves winning 1000m races at Ascot, Golden Pal (from barrier 13) will almost certainly lead Nature Strip but McDonald is drawn close enough to him in barrier 10 that he should be able to track him, giving Nature Strip a target and the same need for speed that almost undid Nature Strip as a younger horse could be a crucial weapon tomorrow.

The Ascot 1000m features a gradual but unrelenting rise which even over the short trip can test a sprinter's lungs, legs and most importantly mental toughness.

"I think it will suit our horse because he loves to run on the bridle," explains McDonald.

"It was his biggest asset but also biggest issue when he was younger because he sometimes couldn't control it but he can now and it will help on Tuesday.

"When you are running uphill you want a horse who enjoys running fast and puts themselves into the race. Think about it, horses who get off the bridle and have to chase hard, running uphill is even harder for them.

"So he is the right horse and I know he is in the right form because he has done some amazing things this season.

"But Golden Pal is really fast. Maybe he leads, maybe we do, I don't know. But if he is fast enough to hold us out then he must be a very, very good horse."
Win or lose McDonald loves Ascot and with part NZ-owned Home Affairs also coming up in the Platinum Jubilee on Saturday, J-Mac is exactly where he wants to be. Where he was born to be.

"It is Royal Ascot, it is special. It doesn't get any bigger than this."
McDonald would know.