Patrick Joseph "P.J." McDonald (born 1982) is a Group One winning Irish jockey and President (Flat) of the
Professional Jockeys' Association
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...
.
Career
McDonald was born in
County Wexford
County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...
and started to ride ponies as a child at his grandmother's cottage.
[
Having been taught to ride horses by Dusty Sheehy, McDonald began his career as a ]jump
JuMP is an algebraic modeling language and a collection of supporting packages for mathematical optimization embedded in the Julia programming language.
JuMP is used by companies, government agencies, academic institutions, software projects ...
jockey, with Padge Berry mentoring him as a point-to-point rider. However, he only won 3 out of 70 races in his first four years racing under rules as a rider for trainer Charles O'Brien and considered giving up. He was then persuaded to move to England by an ex-jockey and friend, Michael Cleary, to save his career.[
In England, he rode for ]Ferdy Murphy
Ferdy or Ferdie is a given name, often a diminutive of the masculine given name Ferdinand. It may refer to:
People
* Ferdy Sambo (born 1973), Indonesian former police general
* Ferdie Aston (1871–1926), English-born South African rugby union pla ...
, for whom he won the Scottish Grand National
The Scottish Grand National is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Ayr, Scotland, over a distance of ab ...
on Hot Weld in 2007.[ McDonald credits Murphy for helping his development as a jockey: ' egave me the confidence, he gave me the platform and he guided me the right way'.][ Murphy persuaded McDonald to spend a summer flat racing as a means of keeping fit, although finding he felt healthier for it, he continued under that code, with a caveat that he could return to Murphy if he liked.][
Progressing slowly, his first major success as a flat jockey was winning the 2016 Yorkshire Cup on Clever Cookie, deputising for Danny Tudhope who has been injured in a fall the previous day. The following year at ]York
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
he also won the Lonsdale Cup on Montaly, trained by Andrew Balding
Andrew Matthews Balding (born 29 December 1972) is a British racehorse trainer based at Park House Stables, Kingsclere, Hampshire.
Biography
Balding attended Caldicott School, a boys' preparatory school, and Radley College, a public school. He ...
.[ Also in 2017, he won four races on Havana Grey including the ]National Stakes
The Vincent O'Brien National Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 me ...
at Sandown Park
Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt races and one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse racin ...
and the Molecomb Stakes
The Molecomb Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 5 furlongs (1,006 metres), and it is scheduled to take plac ...
at Glorious Goodwood
Goodwood Racecourse is a horse-racing track five miles north of Chichester, West Sussex, in England controlled by the family of the Duke of Richmond, whose seat is nearby Goodwood House. It hosts the annual Glorious Goodwood meeting in late ...
.
His most famous connection, however, is with the Karl Burke-trained Laurens Laurens may refer to:
Places
United States
* Laurens County, Georgia
* Laurens, Iowa, a city
* Laurens (town), New York
* Laurens (village), New York
* Laurens, South Carolina, a city
* Laurens County, South Carolina
* Fort Laurens, an ...
who was runner-up in the 2018 1,000 Guineas
The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1, ...
, before winning two French Group Ones - the Prix Saint-Alary
The Prix Saint-Alary is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Longchamp in Paris over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1 miles), and take ...
and Prix de Diane
The Prix de Diane, sometimes referred to as the French Oaks, is one of the most important and prestigious Group 1 horse races in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at C ...
. However, after being thrown from a horse in the parade ring at Newcastle
Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
, he fractured his heel and ankle, and missed several weeks of the season during which Laurens won two late season Group Ones under Tudhope.[ Returning to ride Laurens in the ]Queen Elizabeth II Stakes
The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is ...
at Ascot Champions Day, he finished 8th behind Roaring Lion, but would win another Group One, the Prix Rothschild
The Prix Rothschild is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile), and ...
in July 2019.[
In July 2022 McDonald picked up a spare ride on 18/1 outsider Pyledriver, trained by William Muir and Chris Grassick, in the Group One at ]Ascot
Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to:
Places Australia
* Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane
* Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality
* Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide
* Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victoria ...
. Pyledriver's regular jockey, Martin Dwyer
Martin Joseph Dwyer (born 28 June 1975 in Aintree, Liverpool, Merseyside) is a retired English jockey who competed in flat racing, winning the 2006 Epsom Derby on Sir Percy and the 2003 Epsom Oaks on Casual Look.
Career
Dwyer, who was born ...
was injured and Frankie Dettori
Lanfranco "Frankie" Dettori (; born 15 December 1970), is an Italian jockey who was based in England for a career spanning over 35 years. He was British flat racing Champion Jockey three times (1994, 1995 and 2004) and rode the winners of 287 ...
, who had ridden him in his previous two starts, was on the more-fancied Emily Upjohn. McDonald had ridden Pyledriver as a two-year-old, winning the Ascendant Stakes. Pyledriver defied his odds to win the Ascot race by nearly three lengths from Torquator Tasso
Torquator Tasso (foaled 21 April 2017) is a German Thoroughbred racehorse. He was named German Horse of the Year for three consecutive years starting in 2020 when he won the Grosser Preis von Berlin and was placed in the Deutsches Derby, Grosser ...
. Since Dwyer had retired, McDonald retained the ride on Pyledriver when he returned to racecourse for the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes
The Hardwicke Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 211 yards (2,406 metres), an ...
at Royal Ascot on 24 June 2023. Pyledriver won by just over a length and survived a stewards' inquiry, with McDonald receiving a three-day ban for careless riding.
He has been the Professional Jockeys' Association
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...
's safety officer in the North since 2010 and in July 2018 was appointed Flat President of the PJA, replacing Steve Drowne
Steve Drowne, (born 10 December 1971),''Racing Post'', London, 10 December 2021, page 18. is a former professional flat racing jockey. Growing up, he attended Newmarket Racing School. His father was a Devon farmer.
Drowne is one of racing's most ...
.[
]
Personal life
McDonald lives in Leyburn
Leyburn is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, sitting above the northern bank of the River Ure in Wensleydale. Historic counties of England, Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the name was derived from 'Ley' ...
, North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
and is married to Abby, who he met at Ferdy Murphy's stables. They have two daughters - Amelia and Lavinia.[
]
Statistics
Flat wins in Great Britain by year[
]
Major wins
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
*Fillies' Mile
The Fillies' Mile is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is sc ...
- ''Laurens Laurens may refer to:
Places
United States
* Laurens County, Georgia
* Laurens, Iowa, a city
* Laurens (town), New York
* Laurens (village), New York
* Laurens, South Carolina, a city
* Laurens County, South Carolina
* Fort Laurens, an ...
(2017)''
* - '' Pyledriver (2022)''
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
*Prix de Diane
The Prix de Diane, sometimes referred to as the French Oaks, is one of the most important and prestigious Group 1 horse races in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at C ...
- ''Laurens Laurens may refer to:
Places
United States
* Laurens County, Georgia
* Laurens, Iowa, a city
* Laurens (town), New York
* Laurens (village), New York
* Laurens, South Carolina, a city
* Laurens County, South Carolina
* Fort Laurens, an ...
(2018)''
*Prix Rothschild
The Prix Rothschild is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile), and ...
- ''Laurens Laurens may refer to:
Places
United States
* Laurens County, Georgia
* Laurens, Iowa, a city
* Laurens (town), New York
* Laurens (village), New York
* Laurens, South Carolina, a city
* Laurens County, South Carolina
* Fort Laurens, an ...
(2019)''
*Prix Saint-Alary
The Prix Saint-Alary is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Longchamp in Paris over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1 miles), and take ...
- ''Laurens Laurens may refer to:
Places
United States
* Laurens County, Georgia
* Laurens, Iowa, a city
* Laurens (town), New York
* Laurens (village), New York
* Laurens, South Carolina, a city
* Laurens County, South Carolina
* Fort Laurens, an ...
(2018)''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, P. J.
Irish jockeys
1982 births
Living people
Equestrians from County Wexford