The postponement of the Hollywoodbets Durbanville meeting today will now focus the attention on a mouthwatering renewal of the King George V1 & Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot.
And Jockey PJ Mcdonald aims for a repeat win on defending champ, Pyledriver,
McDonald credits Pyledriver’s win in last month’s Hardwicke Stakes with having saved what would otherwise have been a disastrous year for him.
Pyledriver – looking to repeat last year’s big run
Now he is looking to the ever popular six-year-old to repeat last year’s win in today’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes at Ascot and become just the third multiple winner of Britain’s premier all-aged middle-distance event, following Swain and Enable.
Today’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes, one of 35 races in the QIPCO British Champions Series, is the most competitive renewal in recent memory.
Despite the late defection of last year’s Derby winner Desert Crown following another setback it features seven Group 1 winners in a field of 11, including the first two in the Derby, yet Pyledriver, an 18-1 chance a year ago, is rightly among the market leaders.
McDonald won a Scottish National on Hot Weld as a conditional jump jockey in 2007 before switching to the Flat, where he was something of a slow burner until linking up with John Dance’s Laurens, on whom he won four Group 1s. Having driven up and down the country in pursuit of more than 100 winners three years in a row, a retainer with Dance changed his life, taking the pressure off and enabling him to spend much more time with his wife and two children.
It was a massive blow then when Dance’s assets were frozen in the spring while officials from the Financial Conduct Authority investigated reported serious regulatory and operational issues regarding his businesses. McDonald’s life was changed overnight, hence his relief after being reunited with the long-absent Pyledriver at Royal Ascot for what proved easily his biggest win so far in what would otherwise have looked a pretty meagre 2023.
PJ Mcdonald – man on a mission
McDonald admitted: “My numbers are well down and to be honest if I didn’t have Pyledriver this year would be a complete disaster. I’ve been in the top 10 or 15 jockeys for a lot of years but I had all my eggs in one basket. I’ve put a lot of work into John and James (Horton, Dance’s trainer) and their establishment, and I hadn’t done the groundwork at other yards to go freelance.
“It’s been a kick in the balls, but it’s been tough on James too and it’s been tough on John. John sat down with both of us when it came out and assured us he had done nothing wrong. He said he’s made a mistake but done nothing illegal. I’m very much still in John’s camp, and I’ll carry on going into James’s four times a week. I’ve got John’s back and I’ll be staying loyal to him until I’m told different.”
McDonald, 41, had ridden Pyledriver only once before last year’s King George, winning a Listed race at Haydock on him nearly three years previously, and although joint trainer William Muir exuded confidence few expected him to beat the likes of Oaks second Emily Upjohn and recent Irish Derby winner Westover, not to mention the previous year’s Arc winner Torquator Tasso.
He said: “It was a big deal for me and it took a long time to sink in. The King George is a very prestigious race and I grew up watching it. It’s the best of the best – the best riders, the best horses and the best trainers – and it was great to just be competing in it. To go and win it was a bit surreal to be honest, and he won it properly.
“As much as people want to say some of his rivals didn’t run their races, the time stands up as he dipped under standard, just as he did again in the Hardwicke on his reappearance (Deauville Legend fourth), when his time was nearly six seconds quicker than that of King Of Steel the previous afternoon.
“He’s a proper, proper horse, and the bit of rain around won’t hurt, although he goes on any ground. It’s probably the best King George we’ve seen in a long time, but he’s tough and he’ll battle. He’s been in the trenches before and I’ll make it as tough as I can for the rest of them. I’m looking forward to being part of it again, and I’m very excited.”
Pyledriver’s former rider Martin Dwyer, recently retired through injury, has been a huge help to McDonald, and the pair will talk again once they have had a chance to digest the declarations and the draw.
McDonald said: “Willie doesn’t tie me down to instructions but we’ll have a good look at the race and I’ll have a chat with Martin, who was absolutely vital in winning the King George last year.
“Pyledriver can make the running, or he can drop in a bit. I’m in a lucky position and I’m not really bothered about what the rest of them do. I’ll put my hands on his neck and if there are one or two who want to go off in front of me again and go flat out I’ll follow them and switch off lovely, but if not I’m more than happy to do my own thing. I know he’ll stay well.”
- Racemeeting starts at 14h15.
