‘A different horse from the spring’: J-Mac says Napoleonic ready to fire after ballot scare

James McDonald was wondering if he had made a blue, when Napoleonic was on the outside looking in for Saturday’s Doomben 10,000, but now he has got his confidence back.

The World’s best jockey turned down the ride on Grafterburners to stick with Napoleonic, which he is unbeaten on in three rides, only to find him needing two scratchings to gain a run in the Group 1.

“You try to stay positive, but I was worried he was not going to get there and that would have been a shame,” McDonald said.

“We are in the race now, and he is flying.

“I rode him in the spring, and he was an immature three-year-old, but he had those runs in the autumn have really toughened him up, and he is ready for this now.

“I would have been really disappointed if he didn’t get a run.”

McDonald is the only jockey to win Napoleonic and won the Red Anchor Stakes on the final day at Moonee Valley, the last time he was on the son of Wootton Bassett, using a sweeping move to score by a big space.

Since he came back in the autumn as a runner-up to Tempted in the Eskimo Prince Stakes and then was second again to Ninja in the Hobartville Stakes before finishing down the track in the Canterbury Stakes.

After a freshen-up, McDonald got a feel of Napoleonic in an April barrier trial win at Randwick, which made the decision what he would ride in the Doomben 10,000 ane easy one.

“He is just a different horse from the spring,” he said. “He is a real 1200m horse, who is going to love the pressure at this level.

“I missed his second trial because I was away, but Zac [Lloyd] was impressed with him.

“He really likes a soft track, so I’m hoping it will stay in the soft range and heavy would be even better.

“This race is coming at the right for him.”

Napoleonic was a $4.60 chance when he was an emergency, but is strangely out to $6.50 after gaining a start.

McDonald, as always, has a strong book at Doomben with Welwal in the Bernborough Stakes and Providence in the Rough Habit Stakes among his good rides that will handle the ground.

“You look at my rides and a soft track if going to help a lot of them,” McDonald said.