J-Mac tax laid bare: Monster betting figures on star jockey revealed
Most punters know that if they back a James McDonald mount, they’ll be taking unders. Now a corporate betting giant has revealed the staggering figures on J-Mac’s impact on betting markets.
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Punters know they have to pay a “J-Mac tax’’ but never before has the monster betting hold on champion jockey James McDonald been revealed.
Until now.
The ‘J-Mac tax’ is the colloquial term used by punters who generally have to take ‘unders’ when betting on McDonald’s mounts because of the sheer popularity of the star jockey and the quality of his rides.
Now betting giant Ladbrokes Australia has laid bare McDonald’s amazing impact on betting.
The extraordinary figures show that, during 2023, Ladbrokes’ overall betting hold on McDonald’s rides was in excess of $10m more than any other jockey.
The betting company identified that in the 2023 calendar year, there were 921,328 bets placed on McDonald’s mounts for an overall betting hold of $40.4m.
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The jockey with the next highest betting hold was Wizard of the West and last race specialist Willie Pike, who accounted for an overall betting hold of $30.1m (albeit Pike had almost 350 more rides than McDonald in the period).
Punters were also keen to side with Queenslanders Jimmy Orman and Ben Thompson, who accounted for $24.3m and $20m respectively in terms of total betting hold with Ladbrokes in 2023.
Splitting the Banana Benders was champion Victorian jockey Blake Shinn ($20.6m). Other jockeys in the top 10, each accounting for $14m or more of total betting hold, were Tyler Schiller, Nash Rawiller, Hong Kong champion Zac Purton, Jamie Kah and Damian Lane.
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In terms of an average betting hold per race in 2023, McDonald tops Ladbrokes’ list with an average of $75,144 betting hold on each of his rides.
Champions Joao Moreira and Kah, who last Saturday snared her 10th Group 1 win, were popular with average betting holds of $46,082 and $44,559 on their mounts.
With McDonald almost certain to head to ride full-time in the Hong Kong racing mecca in the future, the wagering figures show what sort of a gaping hole he could leave in the Australian wagering market.
Aussie punters would still bet on McDonald in Hong Kong, but almost certainly not as much as they do when he is front and centre riding Down Under.
The wagering holds quoted in this story reflects a deep dive done on wagering undertaken by one corporate betting agency, so McDonald’s impact and total wagering hold on his mounts when all betting agencies are taken into consideration would be astronomical.
McDonald is likely to have another fill-up at Randwick on Saturday with his ace book of rides including Fangirl ($1.50), Storm Boy ($1.30) and Our Kobison ($1.95).
Originally published as J-Mac tax laid bare: Monster betting figures on star jockey revealed
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