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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 14 07 Dec 2025 SHAT TOP DRAGON $3.6 RST80-60 C3 1400m $366,142 W Y SO 1:21.95
3 of 12 07 Dec 2025 SHATA STAR FIGURE $8.3 RST60-40 C4 1200m $230,315 JAMIE RICHARDS 1:08.84
8 of 14 07 Dec 2025 SHAT WE ARE HERO $2.7 RST85-60 C3 1000m $366,142 MANFRED MAN 0:56.96
2 of 14 07 Dec 2025 SHAT FIT FOR BEAUTY $1.6 RST60-40 C4 1400m $230,315 JOHN SIZE 1:22.21
2 of 12 07 Dec 2025 SHATA COLOURFUL WINNER $2.3 RST40-0 C5 1200m $172,244 W Y SO 1:09.28
12 of 14 07 Dec 2025 SHATA MEEPMEEP $8.3 RST40-0 C5 1650m $172,244 JOHN SIZE 1:39.52
3 of 12 03 Dec 2025 HAPV WROTE A NEW PAGE $2.7 RST80-60 C3 1800m $403,543 DANNY SHUM 1:48.95
8 of 12 03 Dec 2025 HAPV CALIFORNIA DEEPLY $4.6 RST60-40 C4 1200m $230,315 A S CRUZ 1:09.75
10 of 12 03 Dec 2025 HAPV ROSEWOOD FLEETFOOT $14 RST40-0 C5 1800m $172,244 JAMIE RICHARDS 1:49.73
8 of 12 03 Dec 2025 HAPV KINGLY DEMEANOR $13 RST60-40 C4 2200m $230,315 A S CRUZ 2:15.71
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 6 21.4% 10 57.1% 28 $13,791,500 2 0 1 0 $0.46
JOHN O'SHEA & TOM CHARLTON 3 100.0% 0 100.0% 3 $254,900 0 0 1 0 $2.70
DANNY SHUM 2 16.7% 1 25.0% 12 $765,434 0 1 0 0 $1.87
PIERRE NG 1 12.5% 0 12.5% 8 $607,161 0 1 0 0 $0.79
JOHN SIZE 1 20.0% 2 60.0% 5 $208,125 0 0 0 0 $0.70
ANNABEL & ROB ARCHIBALD 1 50.0% 0 50.0% 2 $31,400 0 0 0 0 $1.40
MICHAEL FREEDMAN 1 50.0% 0 50.0% 2 $82,500 0 0 0 0 $1.55
LES BRIDGE 1 100.0% 0 100.0% 1 $28,400 0 0 0 0 $1.45
GAI WATERHOUSE & ADRIAN BOTT 1 100.0% 0 100.0% 1 $120,000 0 0 0 1 $5.00
DAVID EUSTACE 1 100.0% 0 100.0% 1 $229,568 0 0 0 0 $4.40
D WHYTE 1 100.0% 0 100.0% 1 $131,022 0 0 0 0 $7.80
MATTHEW SMITH 1 100.0% 0 100.0% 1 $28,400 0 0 0 0 $2.25
JAMIE RICHARDS 0 0.0% 2 33.3% 6 $100,720 0 0 0 0 -
W Y SO 0 0.0% 2 66.7% 3 $118,445 0 0 0 0 -
DAVID HALL 0 0.0% 1 33.3% 3 $48,359 0 0 0 0 -
Trainer Name Wins Win (%) Places Place (%) Rides PM AUD $ G1(w) G2(w) G3(w) LR(w) ROI
CHRIS WALLER 487 21.1% 673 50.3% 2305 $123,119,764 50 36 41 25 $0.89
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 $31,544,855 17 14 11 6 $0.80
M, W & J HAWKES 71 23.2% 79 49.0% 306 $6,339,380 1 2 6 4 $0.96
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 39 25.5% 46 55.6% 153 $2,324,110 0 0 2 0 $0.94
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
KRIS LEES 26 14.1% 66 50.0% 184 $4,728,390 0 1 2 2 $0.61
SHAUNE RITCHIE 26 23.2% 31 50.9% 112 $717,716 2 3 0 1 $0.97

Seasons Summary Statistics

Season Wins Win (%) Places Place (%) Rides PM AUD $ G1(w) G2(w) G3(w) LR(w) ROI
2025/26 53 22.0% 79 54.8% 241 $22,531,763 3 5 4 3 $0.73
2024/25 133 23.2% 165 51.9% 574 $59,517,982 21 12 8 7 $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 2356 19.2% 3386 27.6% 12283 $350,626,605 122 127 145 105 $0.90