CHAMPION JOCKEY JAMES McDONALD CLEANS UP FOR CANTERBURY PARK COMMUNITY GROUP
February 26, 2022
Sydney’s champion jockey James McDonald has won an inaugural jockey series at the Australian Turf Club’s KIA Friday Night Racing season, winning $7,500 for local community organisation Meals on Wheels at Canterbury.
In association with the ATC’s partner – leading Australian cleaning, waste management and presentation services company Quayclean Australia – a total of $20,000 will be donated to a range of organisations around Canterbury Park racecourse after the final meeting was run on 25 February.
Ten of Sydney’s leading jockeys were allocated a local community group or charitable cause during the series with the points score based on 3 points each win, 2 points each second and one point each third.
At the end of the ten-night season, jockeys who compiled the highest totals earned their allocated causes $7,500 (leading rider), $3,500 (second high total) $2,000 (third highest) and $1000 for each charity of the remaining seven riders.
In a close finish, McDonald (56 points) won by a point from Hugh Bowman (55) after McDonald finished second in the last race of the night.
The series from November through to February was conducted over ten meetings and a total of 78 races.
Bowman secured $3,500 for Learning Links whilst the third placed jockey on 48 points was Tyler Schiller, with $2000 going to Dancing Heart Studios.
Australian Turf Club Executive General Manager Racing and Wagering James Ross said the innovative series had engaged with local residents and communities around Canterbury Park.
“The quality of Sydney jockeys is world-class and the series again showed how strong and competitive the collective group is with the winner decided only in the very last race of the season,’’ Mr Ross said.
“It was particularly pleasing to see such a wide number of jockeys including a rising star such as Tyler Schiller emerge into third place in the series behind jockeys of the calibre of James McDonald and Hugh Bowman.
“We were delighted to join with a major partner such as Quayclean Australia to engage with local residents and our customers and to give back to a range of community organisations around Canterbury Park.’’
The Australian Turf Club and Quayclean jointly funded the $20,000 total.
The ten Sydney jockeys competing in the series were James McDonald, Hugh Bowman, Kerrin McEvoy, Tommy Berry, Nash Rawiller, Tim Clark, Josh Parr, Rachel King, Jason Collett and Tyler Schiller.
FOOTNOTE: The ten organisations who took part in the series were:
| Community organisations | Details |
| Dancing Heart Studios | This charity provides relief from suffering for disabled persons of all ages via structured and educational weekly dance classes |
| Saint Michael Meals | Meals are prepared in Bankstown and taken to Central Station to feed the homeless |
| Meals on Wheels – Canterbury | Canterbury Meals on Wheels Inc. is a service that provides home delivered meals to persons, living in the City of Canterbury Local Government Area, who are frail and elderly, or have a disability, or are a carer |
| HUMANITY MATTERS INCORPORATED –
| Creating dynamic connected communities that embrace and celebrate ALL their members, opening doors for social inclusion to those young people who have become disengaged and isolated. In Bankstown, weekly on Friday nights |
| Recreation Sports and Aquatics Incorporated | RSAC provides leisure activities, sport and recreation for people with disability and support for carers |
| Outloud | Outloud is an intersectional, CALD-focused social impact arts organisation that creates genuine, meaningful, inspiring opportunities for young people in Western Sydney |
| Little Wings | Little Wings is a nonprofit organization providing sick children and their families, throughout regional NSW, with free ongoing flight and ground transport during the treatment process |
| Sydney Olympic FC | Weekly program at Belmore South PS in term 2, 2022 for engage local schools and children from a multicultural background that may not be playing club football |
| Australian Kookaburra Kids | Australian Kookaburra Kids Foundation delivers a mental health program to children aged 8-18 living in a family where a parent has mental illness |
| Learning Links | Preventing learning difficulties from causing disadvantage. We work in close collaboration with schools, early childhood settings, professionals, and parents to help children with learning disabilities and difficulties. |