James McDonald will ease himself back in to Australian racing with two rides at Warwick Farm tomorrow before partnering Caulfield Guineas hopeful Cauthen at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
The talented jockey has spent the past two months riding in England and also enjoyed a short stint back home in New Zealand before returning to Sydney on Monday night.
McDonald is keen to ride Cauthen on Saturday to gauge whether the wraps on the Kiwi colt are justified.
“He looks like he could be something out of the box so really looking forward to getting on his back,”
“I haven’t had anything to do with him but I’ve got a fair bit to do with the owners, they have been good to me and I have a strong connection with them.
“Saturday will tell us a little more, he looks an exciting prospect for those bigger races but we will have to wait and see how he comes up.”
Cauthen, trained by Andrew Campell, made a big impression on debut at at Te Rapa, winning by more than eight lengths.
Also nominated for the 1000m contest at Moonee Valley is Rick Hore-Lacy’s Clevadude, who looked impressive winning his first two starts before failing to fire in the $2 million Magic Millions Classic at the Gold Coast.
“I rode in England and got a few winners, it was amazing, had a lot of fun and it was a good experience,” McDonald.
“But I’m happy to be back in Sydney, I’ll keep my head down here for a while and we will see how we go, no more shipping around for a while anyway.”
McDonald has been booked to partner Sumitro for David Payne in race three at Warwick Farm today and Animoso for Team Hawkes in the final race.
– TVN
