Wathnan snap up James McDonald for Royal Ascot rides
Wathnan's racing adviser Richard Brown said: 'We're going to have a good-sized team with multiple entries in certain races.
'William Buick helps us when he can but obviously his availability is limited and when talking to the team, we decided we needed to have somebody in position who might be able to help us.
'A lot of the top guys here have got their own commitments and we heard with interest that James McDonald is coming over to ride Carl Spackler, so we reached out to him and he's going to be here Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before flying home for a wedding at the weekend.'
A good friend of Wathnan number one Doyle, 'J-Mac' has enjoyed notable recent success on the world stage aboard Hong Kong star Romantic Warrior, while he has a stellar record at Royal Ascot enjoying a treble in 2022 which included Group One glory aboard Australian ace Nature Strip.
'I would imagine James will ride five or six for us over the first three days,' continued Brown.
'He has a great record at Ascot and he's great mates with James Doyle, which is an important dynamic to it. They will be able to run through the horses together that James Doyle knows so well and 'Doyler' has got a few hard decisions to make.
'But James is such a team player and is very pro the idea and I'm sure he'll be helping the other James with the form of the races and the horses he'll be on.
'We didn't want to leave anything to chance and it's very hard to get the top guys booked with them having their own commitments, so to have James McDonald riding for us where we have multiple entries and William Buick can't (ride) makes an awful lot of sense.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
STV News
27 minutes ago
- STV News
Motherwell hit late equaliser to draw with Rangers at Fir Park
Motherwell scored a late equaliser against Rangers as the sides took a point each on the opening day of the Premiership season. Russell Martin's side took an early lead through their captain James Tavernier, when he turned home a corner from Joe Rothwell on the 14th minute. Emmanuel Longelo equalised late in the second half with a fine finish after a good period of possession from Motherwell. Rangers had the best of the opening stages with Djeidi Gassama, making his first start since signing from Sheffield Wednesday, and Danilo, who hit the crossbar, both coming close. They got the breakthrough soon after when Tavernier headed home Rothwell's cross to make it 1-0. The visitors took that lead into half time, but it was Motherwell who came out strongest after the break. Jens Berthel Askou's side had a string of chances as they pushed for an equaliser. Tawanda Maswanhise fired over the bar from close range and captain Paul McGinn forced a save from Jack Butland during a good spell of possession for the Steelmen. The game was now beginning to open up with good chances being created at both ends. Rangers debutant Lyall Cameron had a powerful strike from the edge of the box, by saved by Motherwell keeper Calum Ward, before Apostolos Stamatelopoulos came agonisingly close with a header. The Australian will feel he should have done better with the close range effort, but his header looped over the bar and onto the roof of the net. Motherwell got their equaliser with just three minutes left to play when Longelo finished off a good attacking move. The left back, who joined from Birmingham City in the summer, fired a shot past Butland to make it 1-1 on the 87th minute. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Powys County Times
an hour ago
- Powys County Times
Charles Leclerc edges out McLarens to claim pole position in Hungary
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took a surprise pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix – as team-mate Lewis Hamilton could manage only 12th. Championship leader Oscar Piastri and title rival Lando Norris had been expected to fight for pole but the McLaren men were left to settle for second and third respectively. Leclerc saw off Piastri by just 0.026 seconds with Norris only 0.015 sec behind the Australian. George Russell finished fourth for Mercedes. Just wow, Charles! 💪 #F1 #HungarianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) August 2, 2025 McLaren had dominated all weekend at the Hungaroring with Norris fastest in both sessions on Friday, and Piastri – who leads his team-mate by 16 points in the world championship – quickest in the concluding running prior to qualifying. But Leclerc pulled a mighty lap out of the bag to secure both his and Ferrari's first pole of the season. The Monegasque said: 'Today, I don't understand anything in Formula One. Honestly, the whole qualifying was extremely difficult. When I say extremely difficult, it's not exaggerating. 'It was difficult for us to get to Q2, it was difficult for us to get to Q3. In Q3, the conditions changed a little bit. Everything became a lot trickier, and I knew I just had to do a clean lap to target third. 'At the end of the day, it's pole position. I definitely did not expect that. Honestly, I have no words. It's probably one of the best pole positions I've ever had. It's the most unexpected, for sure.' In the other scarlet car, Hamilton has a record eight wins and nine pole positions in Hungary. However, a week after he qualified only 16th at Spa-Francorchamps, he suffered another setback when he was knocked out of Q2. Hamilton has now been outqualified by Leclerc at 10 of the 14 rounds so far. 'Every time, every time,' said the British driver after he was informed of his early exit. Hamilton emerged from his cockpit and walked towards the Ferrari motorhome holding his gloves in front of his visor to obstruct the full glare of the waiting TV cameras. Hamilton's lowly grid slot looks set to extend his run without a podium finish to 14 races. Until this season he had never gone more than 10 races into a campaign without finishing in the top three. Hamilton's replacement at Mercedes, the teenager Kimi Antonelli, has only scored once in his last seven appearances and he too failed to make it out of Q2, qualifying 15th. Aston Martin have been woefully out of sorts this year and are eighth in the constructors' standings. Both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll failed to make it out of Q1 at the previous round. However, Alonso – who turned 44 earlier this week – and Stroll progressed to the final phase on Saturday, and will start fifth and sixth respectively. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen qualified eighth for Red Bull. Alex Albon has enjoyed a strong season – he finished sixth last weekend – but he will line up from the back of the pack here after qualifying 20th and last. Yuki Tsunoda was also eliminated in Q1 for the fifth time this season, leaving him 16th on the grid.
Leader Live
an hour ago
- Leader Live
Lewis Hamilton: I'm absolutely useless and Ferrari need a new driver
Outside of a sprint win at the second round in China, Hamilton's move from Mercedes to Ferrari has failed to live up to its blockbuster billing and his debut season in red took another sorry twist when he was knocked out of Q2 at the Hungaroring. The 40-year-old has a record eight wins and nine pole positions here. However, a week after he qualified only 16th at Spa-Francorchamps, he suffered another setback. Hamilton has now been out-qualified by Leclerc at 10 of the 14 rounds so far, has finished ahead of him only twice and trails his team-mate by 30 points in the standings. And, in an astonishing admission in the moments after qualifying, Hamilton told Sky Sports: 'It's me every time. 'I'm useless, absolutely useless. The team have no problem. You've seen the car's on pole. So we probably need to change driver.' After he failed to progress to Q3, Hamilton emerged from his cockpit and walked towards the Ferrari motorhome holding his gloves in front of his visor to obstruct the full glare of the waiting TV cameras. Hamilton's lowly grid slot looks set to extend his run without a podium finish to 14 races. Until this season he had never gone more than 10 rounds into a campaign without finishing in the top three. Ready to fight from there 🇭🇺 — Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) August 2, 2025 In a subsequent session with the print media, which lasted just 59 seconds, Hamilton added: 'I just wasn't very good, just not fast enough. It is nothing to do with the car. (It has been) a struggle all weekend.' Rain could play a role in Sunday's race but when asked if the possible inclement conditions could help him, Hamilton said: 'I don't think anything can help me right now.' Hamilton leads Formula One's qualifying record books with 104 poles – 36 more than Michael Schumacher, who is second on the list, managed. But his one-lap form has fallen away dramatically since he was denied a record eighth world championship by Max Verstappen in 2021 – taking just one pole in the last three-and-a-half years, here in Budapest in 2023. In his final season at Mercedes, he suffered a 19-5 defeat to George Russell in their qualifying head-to-head, and at the penultimate round of the year in Qatar, Hamilton said he was 'definitely not fast anymore'. Hamilton also failed to make it out of Q1 in qualifying for both the sprint and main event in Spa-Francorchamps last weekend, although he drove well in the main event to finish seventh. Just wow, Charles! 💪#F1 #HungarianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) August 2, 2025 Championship leader Oscar Piastri and title rival Lando Norris had been expected to fight for pole, but the McLaren men were left to settle for second and third respectively. Leclerc saw off Piastri by just 0.026 seconds, with Norris only 0.015secs behind the Australian. Russell finished fourth for Mercedes. Leclerc said: 'Today I don't understand anything in Formula One. Honestly, the whole qualifying was extremely difficult. When I say extremely difficult, it's not exaggerating. 'It was difficult for us to get to Q2, it was difficult for us to get to Q3. In Q3, the conditions changed a little bit. Everything became a lot trickier and I knew I just had to do a clean lap to target third. 'At the end of the day, it's pole position. I definitely did not expect that. Honestly, I have no words. It's probably one of the best pole positions I've ever had. It's the most unexpected, for sure.'
