James McDonald lands ride on Giga Kick in The Everest
Superstar hoop James McDonald says he feels for Craig Williams after landing the ride on Giga Kick in The Everest.
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James McDonald has sympathy for fellow hoop Craig Williams after he was confirmed as the new jockey for superstar sprinter Giga Kick.
McDondald confirmed he will make an early return from a broken foot to partner Giga Kick on Epsom Handicap day.
“He’s a superstar, isn’t he? It’s obviously unfortunate for Craig and jockeys in general when it happens to us. It’s happened to all us and it will happen again,” McDonald told Channel 7 on Saturday.
“Obviously I was the lucky recipient but I’m really looking forward to riding him. He’s a very good horse in Sydney and hopefully we get a little bit of success on him.”
Champion Victorian hoop Williams famously won last year’s The Everest on Giga Kick and has since won two Group 1s on the Clayton Douglas-trained freak.
However, Giga Kick’s connections were unhappy with Williams’ ride on Giga Kick last Saturday when he set the sprinter alight before the Moonee Valley bend in the McEwen Stakes.
After Giga Kick finished third as $1.95 favourite behind Imperatriz, Williams issued an apology post-race in which he accepted full responsibility for the defeat.
But it was not enough to keep him on Giga Kick with connections unhappy with the brain fade and feeling that Williams had given the star horse a gut-busting first-up run when there were bigger fish to fry in the $20m Everest.
On Friday, Racenet revealed McDonald, who is recovering from a broken foot but has been passed fit by specialists, will ride Giga Kick in his next run in the Premiere Stakes at Randwick on September 30 and then when Giga Kick aims to defend his Everest title.
It represents an earlier return to the saddle than expected for McDonald, given that on September 5 he tweeted he would be on the sidelines for a month from a foot injury he sustained in a nasty fall at Wyong.
It is understood McDonald visited medical specialists who have cleared him to return in time for Giga Kick’s next mission on September 30.
McDonald had been without a ride in the 2023 Everest after the retirement of the champion Nature Strip who he won the rich race on in 2021.
First prizemoney for the winner of The Everest is $7 million, which equates to a $350,000 payday for the winning jockey.
McDonald partnered Chris Waller’s Golden Slipper winner Shinzo at two barrier trials last month but even if Shinzo is signed up for The Everest, as expected, McDonald would have been unable to make the weight.
Despite Giga Kick’s defeat in the McEwen, he remains the favourite to win The Everest.
Giga Kick eased from $3.50 to $4.50 in Everest betting after his McEwen defeat.
Giga Kick is attempting to become the second horse to win back-to-back Everests after inaugural champion Redzel achieved the feat in 2017 and 2018.
On Friday, racing manager for Pinecliff Racing Rod Douglas, apologised to Williams after saying on radio earlier in the week he would have liked to ‘’strangle’’ the jockey following his poorly judged ride on the sprint star.
Originally published as James McDonald lands ride on Giga Kick in The Everest
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