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The horse J-Mac wants to follow in the Queensland Carnival
Connor Scanlon • May 17th, 2026 12:04 pm
James McDonald, the champion jockey who has the most Group 1 wins in Australian racing history, has spruiked one certain horse to dominate the 2026 Queensland Racing Carnival.
That horse is the Chris Waller-trained Wodeton.
Despite the colt only winning one race – his debut race – in his 12-start career, the son of Wootton Bassett has won over $1.3 million in prize money, mainly thanks to a second-placed finish in the 2025 Golden Slipper.
Speaking on SENTrack & RSN’s Giddy Up, J-Mac admitted that while it may sound like an unpopular opinion due to the horse’s 11-race losing streak, the hoop feels that Wodeton seems primed for the winter.
“I’ll tell you what, you're going to probably shoot me because he's had a lot of chances, but I just got off the trials at Randwick, and I trialled a horse called Wodeton,” McDonald said.
“You're going to laugh, I know, but he trialled outstanding.
“Give him one more chance.”
J-Mac explained that the colt is looking for 1300m to 1400m and wants a soft track – if the three-year-old can get both of those then he should prove hard to beat.
“All he wants is 1300m,1400m, and then he wants soft ground,” McDonald stated.
“I think you'll see a pretty good horse because he's never seen soft ground since that debut.
“I'm not saying he wants it heavy but just soft.”
J-Mac even stated that Wodeton may make it to the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap on June 13 if he can string some wins together.
“He might get there (to the Stradbroke),” McDonald stated.
“He has to win his way in because he's a fair way down, but he's a champ.”
Wodeton is currently $26 to win that $3 million race.
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