James McDonald was back in New Zealand over the festive season and had another fill-up with four winners on the feature Ellerslie card on New Year's Day, including stakes wins aboard Dragon Leap and the Nigel Tiley-trained Play That Song (NZ) (Showcasing {GB}) in the G2 Barnswood Farm Eclipse S.
O'Sullivan, a member of the New Zealand Racing Hall Of Fame, co-trains Dragon Leap, the half-brother to Group 1 winner Inference (So You Think {NZ}), who cost Hermitage Thoroughbreds $1.05 million at the 2018 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, with Andrew Scott, Wexford Stables and Andrew Williams Bloodstock.
The one-time superstar jockey was not backward in his praise for McDonald, who pushed Dragon Leap to a 0.3l win over Riodini, who was shooting for a fifth straight win at just his third start in the race.
“We saw a talented horse and an extremely talented jockey. We have all watched James ride over the carnival and he is probably the greatest jockey that New Zealand has ever produced,” he said.
When you consider the deeds of O'Sullivan himself plus the likes of Jim Cassidy and Shane Dye, it is remarkable praise.
"He might be the best of the lot of them," he said.
"He might be the best of the lot of them." - Lance O'Sullivan
It was clearly a satisfying moment for the co-trainers given the work that has gone into helping Dragon Leap realise his talent.
“When you have got great owners who outlay a lot of money to buy a nice horse and to come out and do that is a great thrill for Andrew, myself, and all the team at Wexford," O'Sullivan said.
Dragon Leap as a yearling
A shot at the G1 NZ Derby looms in March, but O'Sullivan is not yet sure how he’ll get him there.
“He is one of those horses that is slow maturing and there is no doubt in the autumn he is going to be a far better horse.
“I certainly wouldn’t swap him with any other, but it is just great to be going into our main 3-year-old race with a horse that has the capability of running in it and having a chance.”
"It is just great to be going into our main 3-year-old race with a horse that has the capability of running in it and having a chance.” - Lance O'Sullivan
McDonald was certainly pleased with what he saw from the 3-year-old, who he believes has a big future.
“It’s well-documented he should probably be unbeaten, but he is just going to keep getting better and better as the preparation goes on," he said.
“If you didn’t know he was as good as what he is you would say he is very green and he is probably six months away, but he is a pretty cool horse.
“He will run 2000 metres on his ear and he will be a lovely Derby ride for someone,” he said.
Play That Song makes Million claim
Earlier, McDonald produced another upset win, when Play That Song extended her winning streak to three, upsetting highly-rated colt Not An Option (Not A Single Doubt) to win by 1.3l and put her name up in lights for the upcoming Karaka Million.
McDonald tracked Not An Option into the race approaching the home turn before sprinting to the lead at the 300 metre mark in a winning move.
McDonald believes that Play That Song is open to substantial improvement heading towards the Karaka Million later this month.
“She’s a pretty professional filly and if she was needing the run like Nigel said, then she’s going to be pretty scary come Karaka Million time," he said.
“She’s very push button with plenty of pace and she’s as strong as an ox.”
“She’s very push button with plenty of pace and she’s as strong as an ox.” - James McDonald
Raced by Tiley and his wife Lee along with his sister-in-law Mandy Rutherford, American-based businessman Alex Opie and International Racehorse Transport (IRT) director Richard Cole, Play That Song was a NZ$40,000 purchase by Tiley from the Windsor Park Stud’s Book 2 draft at Karaka in 2019.
McDonald also won support races on Paisley Park (NZ) (Azamour {Ire}) and Vichy (NZ) (Cape Blanco {Ire}), while he was runner-up in the day's feature, the G1 Sistema Railway aboard Winter Bride (Not A Single Doubt).
Not An Option as a yearling
