Born in County Wexford, Patrick Joseph “PJ” McDonald learned to ride ponies at his grandmother’s cottage. Having been taught to ride horses by Dusty Sheehy, McDonald began his career as a jump jockey, with Padge Berry mentoring him as a point-to-point rider. However, he only won 3 out of 70 races and considered giving up, before being persuaded to move to England to save his career. 

In England, he rode for Ferdy Murphy, for whom he won the Scottish Grand National on Hot Weld in 2007. Murphy persuaded McDonald to spend a summer as a flat jockey to keep fit, with a caveat that he could return to Murphy if he liked, a caveat that was not needed, with McDonald continuing under that code to this day. After steady improvements, McDonald’s chance came in 2016 when he deputised for the injured Danny Tudhope and won the Group 2 Lonsdale Cup on Clever Cookie. 

McDonald had a fruitful horse-jockey relationship with Laurens, winning four Group 1’s across 2018 and 2019, including the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot. Further success followed in 2022, when McDonald picked up a spare ride on Pyledriver in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot due to an injury to regular rider Martin Dwyer, and subsequently won by three lengths. 

As a well-respected jockey in the weighing room, McDonald has been the Professional Jockeys’ Association’s safety officer in the North since 2010 and in July 2018 was appointed Flat President of the PJA.