Like father like son

BY AIDAN RODLEY

Brett McDonald's own Mudgway Partsworld Stakes triumph was consigned to a distant and far less significant second place on Saturday.

The Cambridge trainer and former successful flat and jumps jockey guided Catering King to Mudgway Stakes success back in 1986.

It ranks among McDonald's best flat wins but he said the thrill he got from winning that day paled to the one he got as he watched his son James guide Cambridge mare Keep The Pace to a stunning success in the $200,000 Gr I Hastings feature.

''I though it was fantastic,'' McDonald said yesterday.

''I just love watching James win any race, be it a maiden, an open handicap or a Mudgway Partsworld Stakes. I just love seeing him ride.

''He rode that horse a treat yesterday. He won the race during the race, not up the straight. I was just so thrilled.''

Asked which meant more to him, his own Mudgway win or James' win on Saturday, McDonald said: ''Yesterday's, without a doubt. You love seeing your kids prosper. There's just no comparison.

''Any success my boys have means so much more to me as a dad. James rides for passion; I rode for a living.''

McDonald, whose other son, 16-year-old Luke, is too big to be a jockey and has begun to hone his skills as a pin-hooker, rode internationally as a jumps jockey in a successful career which saw him win most of the domestic jumps features, including the 1997 Great Northern Steeples on the Ken and Ann Browne-trained Sydney Jones.

He also rode Catering King to win the 1986 Foxbridge Plate and the Listed BATC Sprint at Doomben the following year.

''He was one of the nicest horses I rode,'' McDonald recalled.

''He was like a V8, a machine. But he was a bit of a rogue and that's why I got on him. I didn't have too many brains back then and as long as they paid me, I got on them.''

James McDonald, 18, said following in his father's footsteps to win the Mudgway had added a sentimental element to an already memorable win.

''Dad sent me a text and reminded me he'd won that race 24 years ago. I replied to him and said 'yeah but it was only a Gr II race than so you can't count that one','' McDonald joked.

''It was a great thrill. Every Gr I race, we all strive to get one and this is pretty up there. I was unlucky in a lot of Gr I races last year - the 1000 Guineas, the Oaks - and it's quite a relief to get one so early on in the season. Hopefully she can get another one or two and it can go on from there.''

The Shaune Ritchie-trained four-year-old racked up her fifth win from 10 starts and second at Gr I level after last year's New Zealand Oaks with her Hastings success.

It was McDonald's third win on the Danny and Judy Moss-bred Keeper mare from four rides.

''For her to win a 1400m race and beat the likes of Wall Street and them, especially when the fence was gone at the time and she had to come through in the worst of it, it was a pretty amazing effort,'' he said.

''She's travelled through well and felt like a real sprinter. It worked out brilliantly. I followed Mufhasa and just peeled off his back. Fritzy Boy went a bit soon I thought. He put a length on me and I ended up just waiting a couple of seconds first and then she let down beautifully.''

McDonald said another source of satisfaction was that his good mate Luke Dittman had a share in Keep The Peace earlier on and continued his involvement through his link to the remaining owners, Dittman's father Mick and his close mate Paul Bellingham.

''When I first started riding the gallopers I was about 13 or 14 and Luke was apprenticed to Jonesy [Allan Jones]. Luke and I learned to ride together,'' McDonald said.

''We were the same age and got to be pretty good friends. We're in touch all the time and I caught up with him while I was over in England. He was riding at the Gold Coast yesterday and that's why he couldn't come over but I had a missed call from him and he sent me a text saying he was thrilled.''

McDonald retains the ride on Keep The Peace in the Gr I $200,000 Windsor Park Plate (1600m) at Hastings on September 18 and for the Gr I A$500,000 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield on October 2.

''She'll get in with 53kg and I'll be able to do that,'' McDonald said.

''It's the same day as the Spring Classic and Hawke's Bay Guineas. She's got to go well in the mile race first but I'm sure she will. If I get the opportunity to go over and ride her I definitely will. Paul spoke to me yesterday and Shaune rang me today and said they'd like me to stick with her in Australia.''

McDonald's third Gr I winner of his career didn't come without a speed bump though after he was unable to see out of an swollen eye in the days before the race after an incident at Ruakaka on Wednesday.

''You should see the other fella,'' McDonald quipped yesterday.

''Actually it happened at Ruakaka. The horse I was riding was getting a bit keyed up and once it got through the gate and out on the track it just took off and threw it's head in the air and just whacked me in the eye.

''It swelled up quite badly and the day before the race I couldn't see out of it and I was a bit worried about it but I got the ice on it and it came down quite well.''

- © Fairfax NZ News