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JAMES MCDONALD

  • New Zealand

Jockey : JAMES MCDONALD after winning the Lexus Melbourne Cup.

Redemption has been a great driver for James McDonald.

After previously being a great apprentice in New Zealand and then twice winning the Sydney Premiership, the kiwi bounced back from a major setback to win it again in 2018/19.

In doing so, his 104 wins saw him the first rider to break the century since Darren Beadman's extraordinary number of 164 over a decade before.

Once the main jockey for Godolphin, he now gets plenty of Chris Waller's rides too. He was also the pilot for (It's A) Dundeel when he won the Triple Crown.

First Runner  01 Aug 2007
Dumbarton (NZ)  
Avondale (NZ)  |  Avondale Sunday Market Mdn
First Win  18 Aug 2007
Johnnie The Sand (NZ)
Te Rapa (NZ)  |  Empire Hotel Stratford Mdn
Best Horse :
VIA SISTINA  (Timeform Rating 132)
FASTNET ROCK (AUS)  NIGH (IRE)  [By GALILEO (IRE)]
First Group Win (G1):
SPECIAL MISSION  (05 Apr 2008)
TOWKAY (AUS)  TE AKAU TREK (NZ)  [By KHOZAAM (USA)]

JAMES MCDONALD's Career

Latest Rides

FP Date Course Runner Div Type Distance PM AUD $ Trainer Time
2 of 11 30 Aug 2025 RHIL POLYGLOT $2.8 3U BM78 1100m $160,000 MICHAEL FREEDMAN 1:04.25
6 of 7 30 Aug 2025 RHIL PROVIDENCE $4 3 QLTY G3 1300m $250,000 CHRIS WALLER 1:17.81
6 of 10 30 Aug 2025 RHIL AMUSING $2.9 3U BM78 2000m $160,000 CHRIS WALLER 2:03.47
3 of 9 30 Aug 2025 RHIL CAPTAIN FURAI $2.3 3UCG BM78 1500m $160,000 CHRIS WALLER 1:31.58
5 of 8 30 Aug 2025 RHIL SISTER DAAE $2.3 3UFM BM78 1500m $160,000 CHRIS WALLER 1:32.31
3 of 15 30 Aug 2025 RHIL SOLITARIO $2.5 3U CL2 1400m $120,000 PAUL MESSARA & LEAH GAVRANICH 1:25.07
3 of 10 27 Aug 2025 RAWT LADY BOSS $1.9 3UFM BM72 1250m $60,000 CIARON MAHER 1:16.91
7 of 9 27 Aug 2025 RAWT BALKANS $4 3UCG BM72 1250m $60,000 RICHARD LITT 1:17.78
5 of 11 27 Aug 2025 RAWT IVAN'S HERO $5.5 3U BM72 1550m $60,000 CHRIS WALLER 1:37.15
7 of 10 27 Aug 2025 RAWT BRIGHT RED $3.8 3U BM72 1800m $60,000 CHRIS WALLER 1:54.73
View more

Trainer Statistics

Last 100 Runners
Career
Trainer Name Wins Win (%) Places Place (%) Rides PM AUD $ G1(w) G2(w) G3(w) LR(w) ROI
CHRIS WALLER 14 21.9% 20 53.1% 64 $2,654,450 2 0 2 1 $0.67
JOHN O'SHEA & TOM CHARLTON 2 50.0% 1 75.0% 4 $64,775 0 0 0 0 $1.98
BJORN BAKER 1 50.0% 0 50.0% 2 $31,900 0 0 0 0 $0.90
KRIS LEES 1 50.0% 1 100.0% 2 $65,400 0 0 0 0 $0.78
JOHN & THADY GOSDEN 1 100.0% 0 100.0% 1 $235,421 0 1 0 0 $7.50
CIARON MAHER 0 0.0% 2 50.0% 4 $37,243 0 0 0 0 -
JAMES CUMMINGS 0 0.0% 1 33.3% 3 $22,700 0 0 0 0 -
ARCHIE WATSON 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 3 $3,736 0 0 0 0 -
MICHAEL FREEDMAN 0 0.0% 2 100.0% 2 $58,400 0 0 0 0 -
SAEED BIN SUROOR 0 0.0% 2 100.0% 2 $188,543 0 0 0 0 -
PAUL MESSARA & LEAH GAVRANICH 0 0.0% 1 100.0% 1 $11,250 0 0 0 0 -
TRENT BUSUTTIN & NATALIE YOUNG 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 1 - 0 0 0 0 -
RICHARD LITT 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 1 $1,625 0 0 0 0 -
GARY PORTELLI 0 0.0% 1 100.0% 1 $27,250 0 0 0 0 -
GAI WATERHOUSE & ADRIAN BOTT 0 0.0% 1 100.0% 1 $7,450 0 0 0 0 -
Trainer Name Wins Win (%) Places Place (%) Rides PM AUD $ G1(w) G2(w) G3(w) LR(w) ROI
CHRIS WALLER 468 21.0% 644 50.0% 2224 $106,347,944 48 33 39 25 $0.90
JOHN O'SHEA 233 20.5% 335 50.0% 1135 $24,423,571 9 17 26 15 $0.82
JAMES CUMMINGS 130 25.7% 159 57.1% 506 $31,430,355 17 14 11 6 $0.80
M, W & J HAWKES 71 23.4% 79 49.3% 304 $6,328,380 1 2 6 4 $0.97
DONNA & DEAN LOGAN 54 22.1% 76 53.3% 244 $1,810,936 1 2 1 2 $0.92
PETER & PAUL SNOWDEN 53 25.9% 56 53.2% 205 $9,390,210 2 6 8 7 $1.24
MARK WALKER 52 17.6% 82 45.3% 296 $959,475 0 2 1 3 $0.80
GRAEME & DEBBIE ROGERSON 40 24.4% 41 49.4% 164 $1,359,619 2 1 3 3 $1.18
JOHN SARGENT 40 24.7% 46 53.1% 162 $1,135,090 0 0 0 0 $0.83
BJORN BAKER 38 25.5% 44 55.0% 149 $2,272,210 0 0 2 0 $0.96
CIARON MAHER & DAVID EUSTACE 36 34.3% 25 58.1% 105 $7,511,850 0 3 7 3 $1.28
STEVEN RAMSAY & JULIA RITCHIE 35 21.1% 41 45.8% 166 $466,007 1 0 1 2 $0.85
RICHARD & CHRIS OTTO 34 18.5% 52 46.7% 184 $406,130 0 0 0 1 $0.82
SHAUNE RITCHIE 26 23.2% 31 50.9% 112 $717,716 2 3 0 1 $0.97
KRIS LEES 24 13.5% 64 49.4% 178 $4,556,365 0 1 2 1 $0.59

Seasons Summary Statistics

Season Wins Win (%) Places Place (%) Rides PM AUD $ G1(w) G2(w) G3(w) LR(w) ROI
2025/26 12 25.0% 19 64.6% 48 $1,651,625 1 0 2 0 $0.81
2024/25 133 23.2% 165 51.9% 574 $59,402,482 21 12 7 8 $0.80
2023/24 145 22.8% 175 50.4% 635 $56,338,690 19 10 8 12 $0.84
2022/23 151 21.2% 204 49.9% 711 $44,892,765 14 16 15 6 $0.82
2021/22 151 23.0% 212 55.3% 657 $37,122,106 11 9 16 9 $0.89
2020/21 163 24.7% 187 53.1% 659 $20,927,086 8 8 14 7 $1.04
2019/20 124 18.8% 187 47.1% 660 $18,700,637 6 13 9 4 $0.87
2018/19 143 20.8% 187 48.1% 686 $17,821,956 6 10 11 9 $0.80
2017/18 16 15.1% 27 40.6% 106 $1,137,307 0 1 1 0 $0.78
2016/17 34 21.0% 52 53.1% 162 $5,603,400 3 5 4 4 $0.80
Overall 2315 19.1% 3326 27.5% 12090 $329,630,967 120 122 142 103 $0.90