Exclusive column: James McDonald quietly confident he can win his first Doncaster Mile on Day 1 of The Championships
Champion jockey James McDonald says the Doncaster Mile is one of the greatest races in Australia and he wants to win it on Saturday.
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It’s Day 1 of The Championships on Saturday and I’m hoping the Godolphin Blue can give me my first success in the Doncaster Mile.
The Donny is one of the truly great races of the Australian turf.
A 1600m handicap on Australia’s best mile course, a race steeped in history where you need a high class and tough horse capable of running 2000m.
As a jockey you need to make the good decisions at the right time and more than your share of luck.
I ran second in the race once, in 2015 aboard the Japanese galloper Real Impact, but luck deserted me that year because the winner Kermadec got a start at the 11th hour when one of the runners was scratched in the last couple minutes before final scratchings.
This year I ride Cascadian, he’s got a runner’s chance.
Carrying topweight on a very heavy track isn’t ideal for him but once thing I’ve learned over the years is good Randwick milers are good Randwick milers and he won this race last year.
I think he’s a horse that really appreciates strongly run big handicaps and as I said last week, he’s extremely genuine.
He hasn’t finished further back than fifth since the Toorak in the spring of 2020.
Since then he’s had 16 starts and 13 of them have been in Group 1s or races with a minimum of a $1m purse.
You’re a tough marker if you want to knock him and I’m sure he’ll run better than some people think.
The big boy Nature Strip will try to emulate Chautauqua by winning three consecutive TJ Smiths on Saturday.
He’s really well, the old fella.
He obviously gets through the ground but I do have to concede he’s more effective on the better ground.
I love his draw again. It’s similar to his draw when he won The Everest. It allows us to do our thing and the others will leave us be.
He had a jumpout the other day over 900m at Rosehill and he was super.
I reckon it’s the best he’s ever jumped out. He popped away really cleanly and then got into a lovely rhythm very quickly.
He won the trial easily and he had some good stablemates for competition.
He’s in a really good spot.
Chris is the master at getting them to peak on grand final day. He will give everything he’s got and you can’t ask for more than that.
In a Derby this will be the first time I’ve teamed up with Murray Baker since we won this race in 2013 with It’s A Dundeel.
I’m on Regal Lion and I loved this horse’s trial at Newcastle, and he looks the type to love the back-up, a tough and hardy New Zealand-bred gelding.
The back-up is the way to go to win this Derby in recent times and the back-up horses have been winning more than their share of races on these heavy tracks in recent weeks.
I reckon this is going to be a real slog and he’s got slugfest written all over him.
Hitotsu looks the horse to beat but I’m looking forward to having a crack at him.
My horse has the grounding to cope with what’s ahead of these horses on Saturday, three 2000m runs and a 2400m run.
In the Sires’ I’m on Showcourt for Chris Waller, he’s a really nice horse.
He’s been unlucky in both of his starts, not getting a crack at them at all.
He’s improved since his last run in the Todman, had a nice tick-over trial and up to 1400m will suit him down to the ground and he got through a Heavy 10 at Randwick in the Todman so that box is ticked too.
Now we get to the colts vs fillies. We need the favourite to stub her toe, I think.
My bloke will be the first colt home but I think we need Fireburn to have an off day.
Here is one for the future and one of my best rides of the day, Straight Arron in the Carbine Club.
I think he’ll be very, very hard to beat.
He was really good over 1400m at Warwick Farm, back and on the inside which probably wasn’t the best place to be that day.
This is a horse I think will be winning a really good race in the future. He’s a serious horse in the making.
Good luck and I’ll be back next week.
Originally published as Exclusive column: James McDonald quietly confident he can win his first Doncaster Mile on Day 1 of The Championships
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