IT’S OFFICIAL: JAMES MCDONALD IS THE 2024 LONGINES WORLD’S BEST JOCKEY

By Darren Winningham | Wednesday, November 27, 2024

James McDonald will be crowned the 2024 LONGINES World's Best Jockey at the LONGINES Hong Kong Jockey Club Gala Dinner to be held on Friday 6 December.

This is the second time McDonald has been awarded this prestigious award. He claimed his first title in 2022. Prior to that only one other Australia jockey had won the award – Hugh Bowman in 2017.

This hugely prestigious ‘world title’ is decided on an accumulative points basis pertaining to the results of the designated top one hundred Group 1 races across the world, as prescribed by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA).

The points allocation has a win claiming 12 points, a second placing 6 points and a third placing 4 points.
McDonald won nine of the world's top 100 Group 1 races and claimed 4 second placings and 7 third placings. He narrowly defeated four-time winner of the award Ryan Moore who rode 8 Group 1 winners, 5 second placings and 6 third placings.

The final standings at the end of the season saw McDonald score 160 points and Moore 150 points.

“It’s a huge honour and I’m very proud of my year … but it’s just reflective of all the good horses I’ve ridden. II could almost name it the Romantic Warrior Award, to be honest with you, because he was such a huge contributor.”

The Hong Kong champion provided McDonald with four important victories - the Hong Kong Cup (2000m), Citi Gold Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m), FWD QEII Cup (2000m) and Yasuda Kinen (1600m) in Japan.

“He’s obviously a world champion in his own right, so you have to be part of those sort of horses … Romantic Warrior and the Via Sistinas of the world … to be able to be in this position,” acknowledged McDonald.

The Friday of the 2024 LONGINES World's Best Jockey presentation falls in-between two huge race-days.

McDonald will represent New Zealand in the LONGINES International Jockeys Championship (IJC) at Happy Valley on Wednesday 4 December and then he will be again in action at the LONGINES Hong Kong International race day held at Sha Tin on Sunday 8 December, where he will be pursuing more Group 1 glory.

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