Insane earnings revealed after James McDonald rides 11 winners in Melbourne Cup carnival record
On top of the world
Champion jockey James McDonald rode a record 11 winners during the 2024 Melbourne Cup carnival, eclipsing his own previous record from 2021.
"It should have been probably 15, (because I) butchered four, I got 11 right," McDonald said after winning four of the last five races on Saturday, including two Group 1 victories worth $3m each.
The man known around the world as J-Mac hopped aboard 32 horses across the four-day carnival at Flemington - Derby day, Melbourne Cup day, Oaks day, and Stakes day.
His unprecedented success made him the toast of Melbourne for a week but also added to his already bulging bank account.
Jockeys are paid five per cent of a horse's total winnings - as well as their base riding fee which can be anywhere from a couple of hundred dollars to a couple of thousand per ride.
Wide World of Sports has crunched the numbers and discovered McDonald would have pocketed $321,750 just in winnings from his 11 victories for the week.
Scroll on to see how he made his money and which races netted him the biggest earns.
And a stack of almost-wins
Aside from his 11 winners for the week, McDonald also finished nine other races in the placings - second or third past the post.
They included Powers Of Opal (pictured, yellow sleeves) twice - on Derby day and again on Oaks day behind Treasurethe Moment.
His other placings were aboard Fangirl, Front Page, Torranzino, Verdad, Konasana, Bosustow, and Bacash.
His five per cent of the cut from those rides combined netted $34,650.
So from just 20 of his 32 rides for the week the champion hoop collected $356,400 in prize money.
The following slides feature the horses he rode to victory and how much he collected from each.
Aeliana ($5.50) - Race 1 on Derby day
Connections won: $300,000
J-Mac gets: $15,000
Switzerland ($5) - Race 6 on Derby day
Connections won: $1.2 million
J-Mac gets: $60,000
Atishu ($3.90) - Race 8 on Derby day
Connections won: $600,000
J-Mac gets: $30,000
Opening Address ($3.80) - Race 2 on Cup day
Connections won: $105,000
J-Mac gets: $5250
Cloudland ($3) - Race 3 on Cup day
Connections won: $82,500
J-Mac gets: $4125
Amelita ($10) - Race 7 on Oaks day
Connections won: $180,000
J-Mac gets: $9000
Light Infantry Man ($4.80) - Race 9 on Oaks day
Connections won: $105,000
J-Mac gets: $5250
Hinged ($4) - Race 5 on Stakes day
Connections won: $180,000
J-Mac gets: $9000
