Former topline West Australian harness racing junior Stuart McDonald is excited by the fresh challenges and opportunities ahead in his new home-State of Victoria.
Originally from New Zealand, the talented reinsman has the role of stable foreman working for another former Kiwi trainer Nathan Purdon, who recently set up base at Lara, near Geelong.Ā Nathan is son of champion trainer-driver Mark.
āI got to know Nathan when he was working in WA for Greg and Skye Bond, and weāve kept in touch ever since. Nathan was looking for someone to work for him and to do some driving, so I jumped at it,ā McDonald said.
āIāve only been here less than a week, but I see it as a great opportunity ā I think Nathan can go a long way in the industry and I definitely want to be hands-on in that,ā he said.
āBut Iām also looking forward to being able to re-establish myself as a driver and make the most of any opportunities that come along for me there.ā
McDonald arrived in Perth ten years ago, as a 16-year-old.
āMy dad Malcolm was a jockey and got involved later with some harness racing people, but never as a trainer or driver,ā he said.
āI began working at the stables of a mate of dadās after we had the (Christchurch) earthquake. My school was closed, and we were sharing another school and I only had classes in the afternoons.
āAs soon as I started driving, I knew that was what I wanted to do and I aspired to being the best I could be.ā
McDonald later worked for Ross Olivieri for three and a half years, during which time he was twice the Stateās leading junior driver. He established himself in the Stateās top ten overall driverās rankings while still a junior, then spent a six-month stint in 2017 freelancing in New South Wales.
After returning to WA, McDonald started working for Gary Hall Senior, achieving a career highlight in his first Group One victory in the Fremantle Cup on Caviar Star in January last year.
āIād have to say another highlight was to be able to drive Chicago Bull a couple of times ā driving such an amazing horse is one thing, but the fact that āSeniorā was prepared to entrust me with some of his best horses meant a lot to me,ā he said.
McDonald said he was looking forward to pursuing the opportunities presented in his move to Victoria.
āNathan and his partner Mikayla (Lewis, also a driver) are setting themselves up for the future and I want to be part of that.Ā I want to get back to just enjoying the sport ā Iāve probably lost the passion a little bit for it recently, but Iām definitely inspired by the change and to get back into my best form,ā he said.
āObviously that requires opportunities, so the challenge for me is to find those and make the most of them when they are given to me.ā
Terry Gange
NewsAlert PR Mildura