Jockey James McDonald reveals the CRAZY amount of money he earned in just one week

Horse racing owners and connections have been left to count their riches or count the cost of the Melbourne Cup Racing Carnival, but one jockey alone is laughing all the way to the bank.

James McDonald could not find a winning ride in the Melbourne Cup itself, but his carnival was his most successful to date with 11 wins – his greatest ever haul and beating his 2021 personal best.

Ever the perfectionist, McDonald was not totally impressed with that effort even as he dominated all other jockeys. 

‘It should have been probably 15, [because I] butchered four, I got 11 right,’ he said.

So much money did McDonald haul in from his 11 wins?  

McDonald also claimed victory on Via Sistina at the Champion Stakes Day at Flemington

Jockeys earn five percent of a horse’s total prize money, along with a base riding fee that ranges from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per ride.

That means that McDonald would have pulled in over $320,000 for four days work at Flemington including Derby Day, Melbourne Cup Day, Oaks Day, and Stakes Day. 

While McDonald earned an eyewatering amount of money during the Spring Carnival, racing purists were quick to point out he could have earned even more in the days of the sling. 

‘The old school was that the jockey got another 5% in a cash as a sling,’ one race fan posted.

‘The slings would have given him more,’ added another.

A sling was a pre-determined percentage of a win that owners and connections used to pay jockeys with.

McDonald, pictured speaking with NRL legend and horse racing reporter Billy Slater, won over $320,000 across four days in the Melbourne Cup Carnival

For over a century of racing in Australia, it was the primary source of income for jockeys around the country.

However in recent years the practice has become outlawed, with all payments requiring proper documentation for racing authorities and the tax man.

Jockey Dean Holland is one unlucky hoop that found out the hard way the sling is no longer acceptable in Australian racing.

Holland and part-owner Peter Ferne were each fined $200 by Racing Victoria stewards after Ferne paid the jockey a $100 sling for winning the $16,000 Mixx FM Handicap in 2016.

Now McDonald is chasing more Group 1 glory in Saturday’s Thousand Guineas aboard pre-post favourite Aeliana in the $1.5million race for three-year-old fillies.

‘She’s been an improver, a bit of a sleeper, but her performance in the Carbine Club was great,’ McDonald said.

‘A lot of the fillies are coming through the 1400-metre race (The Vanity), but she’s had a run against the boys over a mile and demolished them, so she looks pretty well placed.

‘Some of the fillies in that 1400-metre race might be a little bit suspect at the mile , the way they ran the other day and on what their breeding suggests, but she’s ticked that box so that’s not a worry.’