J-Mac is ready to fly again & again
Hong Kong a familiar sight
James McDonald could head to Hong Kong as many as six times this year as he embraces life as a gun for hire ahead of his Magic Millions mission aboard 2YO Classic fancy Spywire at the Gold Coast on Saturday.
The superstar jockey recently completed a five-week stint at Sha Tin and will head back next weekend to ride Voyage Bubble in the Group 1 Stewards’ Cup, in what will be the first of a host of trips to Hong Kong this year.
Looking to win his second Magic Millions 2YO Classic in three years, McDonald again teams up with Ciaron Maher and David Eustace aboard Spywire for the same connections he won with in 2022 with Coolangatta.
With his ride on Cox Plate champion Romantic Warrior locked up, McDonald will also return to Hong Kong to ride in the rich four-year-old series, kicking off with the Classic Mile on February 4 and culminating with the Hong Kong Derby on March 24.
“I have ended up on two of probably the top five horses in Hong Kong in Romantic Warrior and Voyage Bubble. It’s a good position to be in,” McDonald said.
“I go back there next week and then I head back for the four-year-old series, then Romantic Warrior kicks off again in February.
“I’m riding How deep is your love in the Classic Mile.
“I have about six trips back and forth coming up there.
“It works out really well – the club there has to approve it, so if I am lucky enough for that to happen, they are good horses to go back for.”
Admitting he has been away for most of the two-year-old season so far, McDonald is keen to get back into the swing of juvenile racing with Magic Millions 2YO Classic second favourite Spywire.
“There is a sense of timing about him, I loved that he decided to run him on Saturday,” he said. “Ciaron has obviously been very happy with him and he wouldn’t have run him if he wasn’t, it was basically a barrier trial. Horses have a good record backing up in the Magic Millions out of that day.
“I reckon I have sat on only a handful of (two-year-olds) this season, normally you have a good grasp of who’s who, but I haven’t.”
He also rides Magic Millions 3YO Guineas (1400m) favourite Chrysaor on Saturday in what McDonald says has been a long-term target.
“Chris has targeted this race, his run the other day was brilliant so he looks as good a ride as any,” he said.