James McDonald has been booked to ride Switzerland in next week’s Golden Slipper with Ryan Moore given the nod to pilot the favourite in the race, Storm Boy.
Coolmore Australia confirmed the news on Thursday morning, and it’s left many surprised given McDonald and Storm Boy were seen in a track gallop at Randwick on Wednesday afternoon.
McDonald also piloted Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott’s Storm Boy to his last-start victory at Randwick on March 2 with many assuming Australia’s best jockey would pilot the best chance in the $5 million feature.
But Coolmore has chosen to pick their No.1 jockey for their No.1 seed and the decision has Moore primed to claim back-to-back Slippers after winning the 2023 edition of the race on Shinzo.
Gareth Hall says the booking is a big surprise and believes Switzerland, trained by Chris Waller, will need to go to a new level to cause an upset on March 23 at Rosehill.
“Big surprise this morning, Coolmore tweeted this morning that unbeaten Magic Millions winner Storm Boy will be partnered by Ryan Moore and unbeaten Todman Stakes winner Switzerland will be ridden by James McDonald,” Hall told SENTrack.
“There you go, I thought 'J-Mac' would’ve been $1.50 to ride Storm Boy but there you go, he’s on Switzerland.
“I think Storm Boy is definitely the one to beat in the Golden Slipper, there’s no doubt about that and I think the Moore booking has surprised a few.
“I thought J-Mac would definitely ride Storm Boy.
“Switzerland was impressive last start but the market tells you that Storm Boy has got the edge at the moment with what he’s been able to do and Switzerland will have to go to a new level to defeat, but they’re two-year-olds so you never know and barriers will play a major role.
“Moore is Coolmore’s number one rider and he’s been given the ride on their number one chance.”
Storm Boy is the current $2.30 Slipper favourite with Sportsbet ahead of Switzerland at $4.
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