J-mac in tilt at G1 record

Premiership bid at risk

Champion jockey James McDonald’s quest to break Malcolm Johnston’s all-time record for most Group 1 wins in a season could cost him the Sydney premiership.

Mcdonald has ridden 13 majors so far this season and is within striking distance of Johnston’s Australian record of 16 Group 1 wins that has stood since 1979-80.

Sydney’s leading rider has also won three Group 1 races in Hong Kong but obviously they don’t count towards the national record.

The Adelaide and Brisbane carnivals will be Mcdonald’s focus for the next two months as he chases the Group 1 circuit so he won’t be riding in Sydney on Saturdays for the foreseeable future, with the exception of the Hawkesbury stand-alone meeting on May 4.

There’s also a chance McDonald will ride at Royal Ascot later in June and possibly other English race carnivals over the northern hemisphere summer which could further jeopardise his Sydney title ambitions.

Mcdonald is aiming for a sixth successive Sydney premiership, a feat managed only twice previously by Ron Quinton during his six-year reign from 1978-79 to 1983-84, and by the legendary George Moore who won a record eight successive titles from 1961-62 to 1968-69.

With just over three months of the 2023-24 season remaining, Mcdonald had ridden 68 winners going into the Kensington meeting on Anzac Day and led the Sydney jockey premiership by eight wins from Nash Rawiller.

Jason Collett (58 wins) who is out injured with fractured ribs for at least another three weeks, Tyler Schiller (52 wins) and Tommy Berry (50 wins) round out the top five in the premiership standings.

Mcdonald is riding at Morphettville on Saturday where he has Group 1 chances on Roots (Robert Sangster Stakes) and Concello (Australasian Oaks) and revealed he is determined to try to break Johnston’s Group 1 record.

“It’s going to be tough to get the record but I will give it my best shot,’’ Mcdonald said.

“This means I am planning to ride interstate most Saturdays for the next couple of months so that is obviously going to impact my chances of winning the premiership again.’’

Mcdonald is the first jockey in Australian racing history to ride at least 10 Group 1 winners over three consecutive seasons.

Remarkably, Mcdonald is striving to win a Group 1 race for the seventh consecutive Saturday at Morphettville after a big-race streak during the Sydney.

With Mcdonald in Adelaide, only Rawiller and Schiller have an opportunity to take ground off the premiership pacesetter as Collett is sidelined with injury and Berry suspended until Sunday.