©Racing Victoria

By Brad Bishop

Superstar young jockey James McDonald is hoping to take his Spring Racing Carnival form to Hong Kong early next month.

The New Zealand-born, Sydney-based rider has been chosen as one of two Australian representatives in the 2014 Longines International Jockeys’ Championship as part of the Hong Kong International Racing Festival.

McDonald, who partnered Shooting To Win to BECK Caulfield Guineas success in October and rode five winners during Melbourne Cup Week, will be out to go one better than his second placing as a 19-year-old in 2011.

“It’s going to be great,” McDonald said. “I’ve really enjoyed my previous stints in Hong Kong and as a youngster I dreamed of winning a big international race there and I’ve been lucky enough to do that.”

McDonald partnered Xtension to victory in the 2012 Group 1 Champions Mile at Sha Tin.

Victory in the series would be a stellar way to round out an unforgettable 2014 that saw him win Australia’s second and third richest races; the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes aboard It’s A Dundeel and the $3.5 million Golden Slipper on Mossfun.

McDonald will be accompanied by Melbourne Cup-winning hoop Kerrin McEvoy as Australia’s representatives in the series.

The South Australian native, who was also a force at the Spring Racing Carnival, winning the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes aboard Lucia Valentina, will defend the crown that he won last year.

“I can’t wait to get back,” McEvoy said. “It was such a thrill last year to ride against legends like Gary Stevens and Mike Smith, let alone win the title and the 2014 line-up looks fantastic as well.

“I’ll be fired up and just hoping that I can draw a couple of good mounts and a couple of good gates.”

The International Jockeys’ Championship will take place at Happy Valley on Wednesday 10 December, four days before the big Hong Kong International Raceday.

This article first appeared on the Racing Victoria website and is reproduced here with their kind permission. For more on Off the Track visit http://rv.racing.com/the-horse/off-the-track/news