Billy Slater handed ultimate honour as horse racing world raves over NRL legend's career turn
Slater's horse racing coverage has wowed fans during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
Billy Slater has dazzled viewers around the country during Channel Nine's coverage of the Melbourne Cup Carnival and now one of the country's top jockey has paid the NRL great the ultimate compliment. Slater has been seen on horseback interviewing winning jockeys on Derby Day as well as during the Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Tuesday, and fans haven't been able to get enough of it on social media.
Slater ran into a slight problem on Melbourne Cup day though when he had to keep interviewing James McDonald after the jockey kept racking up the wins. Slater half-joked that he'd run out of questions after the jockey won two of the first three races, with McDonald's tally now up to seven wins across the opening three days of the carnival.
The jockey showed on Thursday why many regard him as the best hoop on the planet with a daring ride to win the Red Roses Stakes (1100m). Wearing the Chris Waller silks made famous by champion Winx, McDonald steered the $11 Amelita through a narrow gap to burst clear and win the Group 3 race by three-quarters-of-a-length over Vestas, in a victory that few other jockeys would have been able to pull off.
McDonald has a chance to break his own record of 10 race wins across the Cup Carnival when he takes the reins on a number of different horses in Saturday's Champions Stakes Day at Flemington. The 32-year-old jockey will feature in all three Group 1 races at Flemington on Saturday but says the thought of breaking his own record is not really something that's been on his mind.
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"I'm a fair way off it, to be fair," McDonald told media on Friday. "I'm three to equal and four to beat it. "I've got a strong book of rides and if things fall into place, funnier things have happened. I had three seconds yesterday, so that counted against us a little bit.
"It was a bit of a frustrating day until the last couple of races. I've had a few seconds that could have easily gone either way. In saying that, I'm looking forward to tomorrow and it will be nice to salute on a couple."
Top jockey James McDonald's huge rap for Billy Slater
While all eyes at Flemington will be on McDonald and whether he can ride further into Australian racing history, fans will be eager to see Slater in action again. The NRL great is a former trackwork jockey and runs his own breeding stable with wife Nicole, and McDonald says his passion and knowledge of horse racing has been a real asset for the Nine Network's coverage.
McDonald likened the Melbourne Cup Carnival to a State of Origin series for the jockeys and says Slater is in a unique position to appreciate its magnitude and what it means to them. The 32-year-old jockey says it's also been an honour to share his successes with someone he's admired and respected as one of the modern day greats in rugby league.
"It's been awesome from a personal point of view," the jockey said. "He's a sportsman, one of the best we have ever seen, so he knows what it's all about. Basically, this is our Origin as well and he can feel it and you really bounce off him. It's obviously an honour and a privilege to talk to him after a race, that's for sure."
