In a week where the world’s best horses, jockeys, and trainers are on show, few have attracted more attention than James McDonald—the reigning Longines World’s Best Jockey whose partnership with Hong Kong champion Romantic Warrior has brought him to the Dubai World Cup meeting for the first time.
Since the World’s Best Jockey title was first awarded in 2014, only four riders have landed the prize: Frankie Dettori and Ryan Moore four times each, McDonald twice, and Hugh Bowman once.
Dettori is the Dubai World Cup meeting’s most prolific winner with 23 victories since 1996, almost twice as many as any other rider. Moore, too, has had plenty of success with 10 wins dating back to his first ride in 2004.
For Australian-based jockeys, though, Dubai is a less frequent destination. The meeting clashes with the Sydney autumn carnival, which is one of the busiest and most lucrative periods on the Australian calendar, and it means that riders don’t have the option to travel to the Middle East.
“It’s even more difficult this year because the Dubai World Cup is a week later,” McDonald said. “That means that I miss out on some of the biggest races in Australia—the Doncaster Mile, the Australian Derby, and the T J Smith Stakes are all on Saturday as well and there are horses that I would have ridden in those races.
“It was going to take something extraordinary to miss Randwick this weekend—but Romantic Warrior is extraordinary.”
Bowman made his only Dubai World Cup meeting appearance in 2019, when he partnered 2017 Japan Cup (G1) winner Cheval Grand into second in the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1T) and Japanese-Australian sprinter Brave Smash for eighth in the Al Quoz Sprint (G1T).
Now, McDonald will add his name to the long list of top riders who have ridden at the meeting when he partners three horses for Hong Kong: Danny Shum-trained Romantic Warrior in the Dubai Turf (G1T), John Size’s Howdeepisyourlove (AUS) in the Al Quoz Sprint, and Sword Point for Frankie Lor in the Godolphin Mile (G2).
“Romantic Warrior loves it here in Dubai and I think he’s looking as good as ever,” McDonald said. “He has come through the Saudi Cup well and Danny has him in great shape. It’s going to be a tough race—he had a good battle against Liberty Island in the Hong Kong Cup in December, Facteur Cheval is coming back to the turf and won this race last year, and horses like Ghostwriter could still be improving. It’s not going to be easy but he is a champion and I think he’s proven to the world while he’s been here in the Middle East this campaign.
“Howdeepisyourlove has been running well behind the horse that many think is the best sprinter in the world, Ka Ying Rising. When I rode down the straight in January, I felt it required more stamina than you’d expect being a flat 1,200 meters. Howdeepisyourlove has that stamina and is coming out of the same race as California Spangle last year.
“It’s going to be tough for Sword Point but we will put him into the race early and give him every chance. There aren’t many dirt races in Hong Kong for a horse of Sword Point’s caliber. Frankie is a good trainer and good on him for taking his chance here.”
Meydan is a far cry from the Waikato paddocks of New Zealand’s North Island where McDonald spent his early life and once dreamed of being a dairy farmer.
The latest in a long line of prodigious jockeys who have taken their talents abroad, primarily to Australia, McDonald has surpassed the achievements of riders like Brent Thomson, Shane Dye, Jim Cassidy, and Lance O’Sullivan—and he is still only 33.
“I lived and breathed farming cattle when I was young and had my own herd of cows,” he said. “My brother and I were racing ponies as kids and I always enjoyed it, I loved competing. I wasn’t a natural jockey, but I have worked hard at it and I think I’ve done OK.”
McDonald is well placed to land a third World’s Best Jockey title in 2025. With a quarter of the eligible races run so far, McDonald is on 84 points—more than half the total he won with last year. He is well clear of his Saudi Cup (G1) conqueror Ryusei Sakai on 36 points.
Revenge may be a year-long quest, rather than the immediate redemption that could have come from a Saudi Cup rematch in the Dubai World Cup.
“I still play the race over and over again in my mind,” McDonald says. “We were beaten so there’s always things you wish you could do differently, but in general, I feel he had every chance to win—he had the momentum up and that is so important on dirt. I think trying to ask him to sprint as he would have on turf just wouldn’t have worked.
“It took a freak to run him down and he ran arguably the best race of his career in defeat. It’s just exciting to have two headline horses like Forever Young and Romantic Warrior across two races on Saturday.”
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
