'It'll be tough but he'll be up for it' - PJ McDonald relishing Pyledriver ride

The Scottish National and Ascot's King George would be an incredible double for any jockey, and although PJ McDonald is not getting ahead of himself, he has described the chance to ride Pyledriver in Saturday's prestigious £1.25 million contest as a dream come true.

With regular rider Martin Dwyer injured and Frankie Dettori on Emily Upjohn, the former jump jockey, who landed the Scottish National on Hot Weld in 2007, has won the race to partner the Group 1 winner in the King George.

McDonald, 40, the only other jockey to have ridden Pyledriver having won a Listed race on the five-year-old at Haydock in September 2019, has been handed the ride until Dwyer recovers from a knee injury which has ruled him out of the turf season.

McDonald, who will be participating in his first King George, said: "I'm absolutely delighted to get the ride. It's exactly where I want to be in action on Saturday and I'm really excited about it.

"I knew my name might be in the hat as I'd ridden him before, but there were plenty of names and mine came to the fore. Even at this stage of my career, it gives you that confidence boost and I'm hoping he goes there, runs well and does himself justice.

"You dream of riding in the race when you're younger and there are plenty of jockeys better than me that haven't ridden in a King George or competed at the top level. You've got to enjoy these days, be excited about them and not let the occasion get to you."

The star of the William Muir and Chris Grassick stable, Pyledriver won last year's Coronation Cup, a race he was second in last month, and the King Edward VII Stakes over Saturday's course and distance in 2020.

PJ McDonald has not sat on Pyledriver for nearly three yearsCredit: Edward Whitaker

Pyledriver is a best-priced 28-1 shot for the King George with Paddy Power and Betfair Sportsbook in a market headed by three-year-olds Westover and Emily Upjohn.

"It's always tough giving so much weight away to very, very good three-year-olds, but Willie says he's in brilliant form," McDonald said.

"He's a Group 1 winner, a course-and-distance winner and has been in plenty of dogfights in his career, so I know he will battle and be up for it. I'd love to think he'd go and run well."

McDonald, who won four Group 1s on Laurens, will be getting on Pyledriver for the first time since that Haydock win nearly three years ago and plans to get some advice from Dwyer.

"The team at Willie's know what they've been doing the last few years without me being there," he said. "I actually watched all his races back this morning and have got most of my homework done. I've always taken an interest in him, so I do know the horse quite well.

"I'm going to speak to Martin and I've thought about how the race might pan out, but there are a lot of horses who like to be up with the pace and attack races, so we'll have to see how we all jump out."

The going at Ascot on Thursday afternoon was good to firm, good in places following an unprecedented heatwave in much of Britain on Monday and Tuesday.

Clerk of the course Chris Stickels, who added he did not anticipate a huge change to conditions throughout the two-day meeting, said: "We had 3mm of rain last night but until that point we’d only had 3mm of rain since Royal Ascot, so it has been a pretty testing and challenging time.

"Particularly with the extreme temperatures we had earlier this week, the constant attention to detail when watering and having to water regularly is quite demanding on the team. Nevertheless, we are happy with how the track is. It’s in great condition for this weekend given the conditions experienced.”

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes (Ascot, 3.35 Saturday)

Paddy Power: 5-4 Westover, 9-4 Emily Upjohn, 100-30 Mishriff, 12 Torquator Tasso, 20 Broome, 28 Pyledriver

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