Hall of Fame jockey Glen Boss has urged superstar jockey James McDonald to remain in Sydney racing and continue travelling to Hong Kong for big racing days.
McDonald is a highly sought-after jockey and is clearly the country’s leading jockey after a sensational season in which he has ridden 19 Group 1 winners, including a career-best 14 major titles, in Australia.
The jockey nicknamed “JMac” will be able to ride his 50th stakes winner of the season at Charterhouse in the Listed $200,000 Winter Challenge (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday as he moves inexorably closer to a sixth consecutive Sydney jockeys’ title.
But McDonald has also ridden four Group 1 winners in Hong Kong – and one in Japan – this season and senior officials at the Hong Kong Jockey Club have said publicly that they want the jockey to one day settle there full-time.
But Boss believes McDonald’s can continue to enjoy “the best of both worlds” from Sydney.
Twelve months after their embrace in the 2022 Cox Plate, James McDonald and Glen Boss are celebrating again after Romantic Warrior’s famous win in the 2023 Cox Plate. Photo: Mark Stewart
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“I told James he doesn’t need to move to Hong Kong – he can continue doing both,” Boss said.
“Do you know that this season he was ranked fifth in the Hong Kong prize money list (HK$91.5 million, AUD$17.4 million)? He can stay in Sydney and go there whenever he is asked because he now has contacts in Hong Kong.”
Boss said the biggest mistake of his career was moving to Hong Kong in 2006, when he was at the peak of his career.
“I thought I would go to Hong Kong and develop my career there,” Boss said.
“I finished fourth in the Premier League and had a good season, but I missed out on all the good racing and good horses from my country. It’s the biggest mistake I’ve made in my career as a jockey.”
Group 1 horse.
Group 1 jockey.
Greetings from group 1. image.twitter.com/pRlWliOCRO
— 7HorseRacing??? (@7horseracing) June 15, 2024
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However, other cycling legends such as Shane Dye and Jim Cassidy believe it is inevitable that McDonald will eventually ride in Hong Kong.
Dye said if McDonald stayed in Sydney he would eventually race 200 Group 1 winners but said the lucrative financial rewards of Hong Kong racing were almost impossible to ignore.
“It all depends on whether he wants prestige and prime ministerships, or whether he wants to be rich,” Dye said.
“If James wants to win titles and Group 1 races, he can stay here, there is nothing wrong with that. But if he wants to be a very, very rich person, he needs to go to Hong Kong.”
How impressive is this!!! ????
J-Mac thanks his fans after another Group 1 win. @mcacajamezimage.twitter.com/uFsWjnAisO
— 7HorseRacing??? (@7horseracing) June 15, 2024
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Cassidy also felt that McDonald would one day move to Hong Kong.
“I don’t think he’ll stay in Australia,” Cassidy said. “I’ve always said records are meant to be broken, but you can’t eat records. He’ll make a lot more money in Hong Kong.”
Ray Thomas interviewed Boss, Dye, Cassidy and fellow Hall of Famers Darren Beadman and “Miracle” Mal Johnston about what makes McDonald so great and where he fits in the pantheon of all-time greats. You can read the full article on Racenet on Friday morning.
