Premier jockey James McDonald will not be seen in Sydney again this season as he takes an opportunity to ride the English summer after Brisbane's Stradbroke meeting on June 6.
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McDonald has 85.5 wins in the Sydney premiership race and leads Hugh Bowman by 5.5 wins but will spend the next couple of weeks in New Zealand, only riding on Saturdays in Brisbane.
He will head to Europe as part of his retained status at Godolphin and is excited at the opportunities that await at some of England's storied meetings. He will ride mainly for Charles Hills while in England.
"I really wanted to get to 100 wins in Sydney this season and it looks like I could have done it, but this is the reason I took the role at Godolphin," McDonald said. "This is a great opportunity and one I have dreamt of.
"I'm really looking forward to riding over there and I have good friend in Charles Hills that Godolphin has allowed me to take rides from. He has about 160 [horses] in work, so I'm going to get my share of rides. I get to ride Royal Ascot, the July meeting at Newmarket and [Glorious] Goodwood, which is unreal."
McDonald is taking time off in the next couple of weeks to return home to New Zealand flying into Brisbane for the Queensland's biggest days of racing. He will ride Rustic Melody in Saturday's Queensland Oaks and believes the free-running Roses winner Bohemian Lily will only help his chance of causing a surprise in the group 1.
"She was second in the Adrian Knox and fourth in the Oaks in Sydney, so she is a very good stayer," McDonald said. "She spilt High Midnight and Redoutable Heart over 1900 metres last start, which looks good form after the weekend and I think she will be there at the end of the 2200m."
The mark has been set by McDonald, so it looks like being a battle between Bowman and Blake Shinn for the Sydney premiership. The pair are on 80 and 77.5 wins respectively.