All Black wannabe to Slipper jockey

Jockey James McDonald will have to settle for being a Group 1-winning jockey after his All Blacks dreams didn't pan out.. Picture: Brett Costello Source: Brett Costello / News Corp Australia

JAMES McDonald wanted two things when he was growing up.

"To play for the All Blacks and be a dairy farmer,'' McDonald said.

The young Kiwi never dreamt of being a jockey and riding a serious horse like Mossfun in the seriously-expensive race like the Golden Slipper on Saturday.

One of the reasons he became a hoop was because top New Zealand jockey Lance O'Sullivan had made enough dough to buy not one but three dairy farms.

Slipper week always tosses up fascinating stories on trainers, horses and jockeys alike. McDonald is no exception.

One of the coolest yarns is the day McDonald's father, New Zealand trainer Brett McDonald, realised his young bloke would make it in the saddle.

"James always had the talent to be a jockey, but he didn't have that s..t in him to survive,'' McDonald told The Daily Telegraph from New Zealand.

"But one day, he was playing rugby against a Maori side at Tokoroa, and I remember this big fella saying, 'I'm going to run straight at the little white fella'.

Jockey James McDonald could be in for a big afternoon at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. Picture: Brett Costello Source: News Corp Australia

"He was trying to intimidate James, but James buried him. The kid got up, then decided he was going to run at James again. James tackled him again, only this time he held his head in the dirt. He did it, got up and carried on like nothing had happened. That's when I realised he had that (killer instinct) needed to be a jockey.''

McDonald, 22, proved that day he never backed away from a challenge.

It wasn't the only time. He recalled a day he picked a fight in primary school with a bigger kid who had thrown his younger brother off a trampoline.

"My fifth day at the races I was also thrown against the locker by another jockey after an incident on the track,'' McDonald said.

"I think it was at Taupo. I laughed at the jockey, but I had a go at him and held my ground.

"I have so much respect for everyone I ride against but when it comes to the battlefield, I like to think I more than hold me own.''

Those battlefields don't get any more brutal than a race like the Golden Slipper.

Sixteen two-year-olds in a mad scramble for a whopping $3.5 million in prizemoney - not to mention the extra millions on the line for any colt first across the line - makes it anything but a race for the faint-hearted jockey.

Mossfun, to be ridden by James McDonnald, will revel if it's a wet Golden Slipper at Rosehill. Picture: Simon Bullard Source: News Corp Australia

McDonald is not a thug. He looks so innocent and young he could pass as a sixth member of popular boy band One Direction.

But he doesn't give an inch on the track, which might explain why he's had so much success so quickly, and is in such hot demand with the likes of Mossfun's trainer John Hawkes, soon-to-be Darley's top dog John O'Shea, and Gai Waterhouse.

Hawkes speaks with McDonald after most meetings to discuss their horses, and praised the jockey for his "soft hands''.

Mossfun is the second favourite behind Earthquake, and will firm again with bookies should the forecast rain prevail.

Earthquake could become Mcdonald's latest Group 1 scalp. He's already got Proisir in the 2012 Spring Champion Stakes and Atlantic Jewel in last spring's Underwood Stakes as prized notches in his belt.

"I think Mossfun has every chance on Saturday, she's trained by (Team) Hawkes, John is an incredible trainer, and he said she's right on song,'' McDonald said.

McDonald could be in for a big afternoon should Mossfun win the Slipper, and It's A Dundeel bounce back with victory in The BMW (2400m). He also praised Rising Romance, the Kiwi filly who revs up her ATC Oaks campaign via the Vinery Stud Stakes.

Come Saturday night, McDonald could be well on his way to buying that first dairy farm.

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