James McDonald has been lured home to partner Tomodachi (blue and white) in the TAB Telegraph at Trentham next week. Photo / Kenton Wright
The world’s best jockey, James McDonald, will make a surprise trip home to New Zealand for just one ride.
And in doing so he will give himself a chance at one of the more remarkable back-to-back doubles in New Zealand racing history.
McDonald, who started his career here but now lives in Sydney, will come home to partner Tomodachi in the $550,000 TAB Telegraph at Trentham on January 3.
Tomodachi is the $3.80 favourite for the Group 1 sprint and McDonald is making the trip because the mare is owned by his close friend and long-time supporter Sir Peter Vela.
McDonald only returned to Sydney yesterday after a six-week stint in Hong Kong that saw him ride two more winners at Sha Tin on Saturday night.
While he is in need of a holiday, he will cut into that to ride Tomodachi. However, his New Zealand-based manager Garry Cossey confirmed McDonald won’t be taking other rides at the Trentham meeting.
“We understand there will be a lot of interest but James won’t be taking other rides, he is just coming for the Telegraph,” Cossey told the Herald.
“Obviously it is an unusual situation but it is Group 1 and he would love to win another one of those for Sir Peter so that is why he is making the trip.”
McDonald won the Telegraph in the famous Vela blue and white colours in 2012 on Guiseppina.
McDonald hasn’t ridden in his home country since the Karaka Millions meeting at Ellerslie in January last year.
He won both the Karaka Millions Two and Three-Year-old at that meeting with Velocious and Orchestral respectively, and the latter was the last ride he has had here.
So when he jumps aboard Tomodachi in 12 days’ time he will be trying to ride back-to-back winners in his homeland via a $1.5 million Karaka Million Three-Year-Old into the $550,000 Telegraph, a quite remarkable double almost two years apart.
McDonald often tries to get home to ride at the Karaka Millions meeting when he can but he won’t be at Ellerslie on January 24.
His favourite ever horse, Romantic Warrior, starts in the first leg of Hong Kong’s Triple Crown at Sha Tin the next night (Jan 25) and McDonald doesn’t want to risk any flight delays stopping him from continuing his association with that champion so will miss the Karaka Millions.
The second running of the NZB Kiwi is already shaping up to be stronger than the first, at least from a domestic point of view.
Unbeaten filly Well Written was signed to the Entain/TAB slot over a week ago and she is now joined in the race by Romanoff, who will start in the Canterbury Jockey Club slot, and Lollapalooza, who has been signed by the slot owned by Barneswood Farms, Darren Brady and Daniel Nakhle.
That means already the winners of both the NZ 1000 and 2000 Guineas are signed for the $4m NZB Kiwi at Ellerslie on March 7, whereas last year neither started on the Kiwi as Savaglee headed to Australia and Captured By Love was ineligible.
Lollapalooza was runner-up to Well Written in the 1000 Guineas last month while Affirmative Action, who finished second to Romanoff in the 2000 Guineas, would be a good bet to be the next horse taken by a slot holder.
Well Written and Affirmative Action are set to clash in the Jimmy Schick Shaw’s Auckland Guineas at Ellerslie on Friday, while Lollapalooza will start a short-priced favourite in the Hallmark Stud Eight Carat Classic.
Injured harness horseman Nathan Williamson was all smiles in Auckland Hospital yesterday after winning a $60,000 Harness 5000 race at Ashburton.
Williamson trains Clotilde Wainwright, who he also co-bred and shares in the ownership of, to win one of the new races on the $600,000 programme designed by HRNZ to give the stock of cheaper harness racing stallions the opportunity to race for serious money.
The day was a huge success but none of the 12 winners could be more popular than Williamson’s winner.
The 37-year-old Southland horseman spent two days in an induced coma after a shocking race fall at Alexandra Park on December 12 when he was going up to win a Group 1 race with Captains Mistress, but a sulky seat malfunction saw him hit the track hard.
Williamson is now able to walk unassisted and talk normally, although he has stitches in a deep cut above his right eye.
“I am feeling a lot better and it was very special to win that race,” he told the Herald.
He and wife Katie will meet with doctors on Monday morning to find out the next steps in his recovery.
“I’d love to be able to go home for Christmas but I may now be allowed to fly just yet.”
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.