Madam Publisher NZ Photo by Photography by Jodie Hallows
Working for Gary Hall Snr has more than just the driving perks, and Madam Publisher NZ is proof of that, with McDonald getting the chance to train her when Hall Snr made the decision to move her on after her trial back in September 2023.
A decision that has proved very fruitful for McDonald, Madam Publisher NZ has now had six starts for his stable for an impressive five wins and at her only ‘failed’ attempt, still finished in second placing.
The three-year-olds latest win was only this week at Pinjarra when she started as the $1.14 from barrier one in the seventh event on the card, with McDonald able to lead all the way for a comfortable win over the 2185m trip to win by 6.9m in a very fast 1:54:9.
“Hopefully she measures up and I can target the Oaks.”
Bred and owned by Les Whiteside in New Zealand, Madam Publisher is by Rock N Roll Heaven USA and out of Hot Off The Press NZ, and so far, is the only foal out of the mare, but speaking with Stuart McDonald, the owners do plan to continue to breed from her.
Madam Publisher NZ will head to Gloucester Park next Friday night for the 3YO Fillies race with all going well by all reports from McDonald.
“She’s pulled up well, and that will be her last start next week, then she will have a little break and hopefully start an Oaks campaign.”
McDonald is completely realistic about his filly and made mention that she will have a big task ahead of her when she tackles the open class three-year-old fillies next week.
“I think she would have to be drawing better than her (Water Lou) to be any sort of chance of beating her, Water Lou is the one to beat and the best three-year-old filly in the state,
“But if my one keeps getting better which I think she still will, I think she’s a chance of giving it a decent go.”
Always confident that she had more ability than she showed, he took her on as a two-year-old and after changing her training regime around,
“I took her out of the sand as a two-year-old, she’s back in it now and she handles it, but she doesn’t work as fast or as hard as the older horses do, but she’s getting there.”
The Gr1 $150,000 WA Oaks is scheduled for October 4 at Gloucester Park.
McDonald currently has a team of four in work, and although heading down the full-time training route isn’t pictured in his near future, he hasn’t ruled out that it could be possibility a few years down the track.
“Eventually I’d love to be training a full team, at some stage, it's obviously a tough game to get into,
“I’ll probably put those aspirations on hold for a little bit, the way the driving is going at the moment, its going pretty well, and I don’t mind having a small team, but in the future I’ll be looking to expand and getting a team for myself.”
