Nursing fractured ribs and recovering from a punctured lung, trainer Clinton Mcdonald is buoyant about the prospects of a couple of two-year-old fillies in his stable. Simply Steffi and Tears Of Happiness both make their debuts at Caulfield on Saturday in the Listed Merson Cooper Stakes (1000m). While McDonald is expecting the pair to run well on Saturday, he is also looking to the future with pair, especially Tears Of Happiness. Simply Steffi, to be ridden by Ben Melham, has had three jump-outs in preparation for her debut and most recently finished second in a jump-out at Cranbourne on October 27. McDonald took advantage of galloping both fillies at Caulfield on Tuesday morning. &ldquo;Simply Steffi is a beautiful filly by Graff, a first-season sire,&rdquo; McDonald said. &ldquo;She was bought by Shane McGrath from the Adelaide sale for $15,000. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s a nice filly and was well found and bought by Shane. She&rsquo;s shown us good ability at home and whatever she does on Saturday she&rsquo;ll improve upon.&rdquo; Tears Of Happiness was a $60,000 purchase by Yu Long Investments at the Melbourne Premier Sale and is a daughter of Pierro. In form jockey Beau Mertens takes the ride on Tears Of Happiness, having ridden the filly in her work at Caulfield on Tuesday. Tears Of Happiness has only had the two jump-outs and McDonald expects the filly to gain a lot from Saturday&rsquo;s experience and when she is stepped up in ground. &ldquo;Tears of Happiness is my second (two-year-old) runner for Yu Long after we had Tales of Time run second in the Maribyrnong Plate,&rdquo; McDonald said &ldquo;She&rsquo;s a nice filly and if we can get that one start into her now, she&rsquo;s going to come back a nice Sires&rsquo; Produce, maybe Champagne (Stakes) type of horse. &ldquo;She&rsquo;ll likely to settle back behind them in midfield but be really strong late. &ldquo;I really like her, I think she&rsquo;s a lovely filly, but there&rsquo;s not much between them and I&rsquo;m looking forward to stepping them out.&rdquo; Horse Racing News

TrainerID 6553

Clinton McDonald 2YO’s set for Caulfield debut

Clinton McDonald

Ali Kennedy-McDonald is set to follow in the footsteps of father Clinton and her late grandfather Ross by becoming a racehorse trainer.
Currently an assistant trainer at Clinton McDonald Racing, Kennedy-McDonald is in the process of applying for her trainer licence. As soon as she gets her ticket, she will form a training partnership with her dad.
"Hopefully, it's sooner rather than later. I just have some bookwork to get through," Kennedy-McDonald told&nbsp;SEN's Giddy Up with Gareth Hall.
"At the end of the day, it's a bit tough after you're working long hours at the stables. As soon as we get that ticked off, we will be ready to go."
Kennedy-McDonald became an assistant to her father in 2024 and currently manages the day-to-day operations of their Cranbourne-based stable.
In addition to her incredible pedigree, Kennedy-McDonald has undergone an apprenticeship that will hold her in good stead. She has worked for Coolmore Stud, Arrowfield Stud and the Melbourne Racing Club and also completed a Diploma of Equine Management at Marcus Oldham College.
"I started working for my dad 11 years ago," Kennedy-McDonald explained. "I went to Arrowfield and did a yearling prep, I went to Marcus Oldham and did their Equine Business Management course and worked for the MRC for a bit.
"So, I've done a bit of everything in the industry, but I've always come back to the stable because that's where I love to be. I love the horses, the lifestyle, everything about it &hellip; it's completely different to anything else."
Kennedy-McDonald is currently in charge of the stable, with Clinton laid-up after a nasty fall down a set of stairs. He slipped over in the wet on Melbourne Cup Eve and spent more than a week in hospital with four broken ribs and a punctured lung.
"He went to Caulfield yesterday to watch some gallops and I think he may have overdone it a bit, in true Clinton fashion," Kennedy-McDonald said. "He's coming along well; he'll be alright soon enough.
"He was in a pretty bad way. He ended up in the ICU and then spent a few days in the Trauma Unit, so it was pretty bad." Trent Masenhelder

New father-daughter training partnership imminent

Clinton McDonald will head to Europe for his 50th celebrations with the knowledge he has a legitimate spring contender in the form of two-year-old filly Miss Ole after her gutsy performance to win the Brendan Dreschler Handicap (2yo, 1100m).
Miss Ole under the guidance of Ben Allen had to work to win as Espana proved hard to run down as they only grabbed her close to the line.
&ldquo;She&rsquo;s a winner. She had to be tough there and she just kept coming and coming. I was confident she would get there, but the post was also coming up quickly,&rdquo; McDonald said.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s her third run. She should be three from three and it will be a good form race as Lloyd (Kennewell) has a big opinion of his filly, who I thought ran fantastically well.&rdquo;
&ldquo;We will get her back she&rsquo;s down the straight in the spring and see where she ends up which could be the Coolmore as she&rsquo;s a very good filly.&rdquo;
McDonald said he had ear marked Miss Ole as his Blue Diamond prospect, but she got a little sore in the shins and he eased her up and decided to wait, a decision that had borne fruit for them.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know where the ceiling is for her,&rdquo; McDonald said. Ben Allen was having his first ride on her and he had to take up the running in the early stages of the race.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not ideal to take that spot having her first run down the straight and she had to be tough. The plan was to ride her and for her to get into her rhythm," Allen said.
&ldquo;I wanted to get her to settle a bit better. She had to be tough as the second horse put a half-length on us. She&rsquo;s still raw, with a lot of upside.&rdquo;

Spring beckons for Miss Ole

Youth will spearhead Cranbourne trainer Clinton McDonald's rebuild after the loss of several of his stable stars. McDonald lost some of his best horses in the first half of 2025 for various reasons beyond his control, costing him potential feature wins during the autumn. Last year's Blue Diamond Stakes winner Hayasugi died after complications following surgery while smart three-year-olds Stanley Express and Refusetobeenglish left his stable to race in Hong Kong. McDonald also lost Group 2 winner Angel Capital to the Chris Waller stable after powerful owner and breeder Yu Long Investments bought the exciting three-year-old. "We lost a lot of good horses," McDonald said. "In any stable, that puts a massive hole." However, McDonald said his stable numbers have improved significantly in recent times with the aid of bloodstock agent Shane McGrath, with whom he combined to secure Hayasugi as a yearling. McDonald said more than 80 per cent of horses on the books have not raced, leaving the stable optimistic of a bumper spring period. "Shane has been really helping me drive the business and get more horses and it's going well," McDonald said. "We've got some really nice young horses coming through. "It's the most horses that we've had on the books. "I think there's about 130 horses there and only 19 that have raced there's a lot of young horses there. "But we've got a good team for the spring." McDonald's stable has been firing during the late autumn period with seven winners from its last 21 runners, including a winning double at last Saturday's Sandown meeting. Three-year-old filly Ahha Ahha completed the stable's double after two-year-old Miss Ole made up for blowing the start at Warrnambool with a decisive win at her second outing. McDonald said he expected both horses to develop into stakes contenders during the spring. Brad Waters

Youth to spearhead McDonald's rebuild

A sea change for bloodstock agent Shane McGrath and his friendship with Victorian trainer Clinton McDonald has sparked a rewarding association with a growing track record of success in the highly competitive world of bloodstock and racing. Irish born McGrath came to Australia in 1997 and has worked for some of our leading farms including Coolmore and the old Eliza Park before a fruitful stint in management at Aquis during a period in which they enjoyed much success. Outstanding gallopers such as Golden Slipper winner Farnan, Mounga, Anders, Prague, Bruckner, Dubious, Global Quest and Ellsberg were all bought during that time under the watch of Shane McGrath. &ldquo;We bought some terrific horses and it was a very successful period, but time moves on and I made the decision to go off and do my own thing and have relocated with my family to Lennox Head, swapping the summer heat of Scone for a coastal lifestyle that suits my family better,&rdquo; said McGrath. Since striking out on his own, McGrath has forged a great working relationship with Clinton McDonald, a third generation horse trainer that has had his share of stakes success through horses such as Regal Roller, Angel Capital, Second Effort and Mugen, who was a very successful trade horse to Hong Kong where he is a Group winning sprinter after winning a maiden for McDonald by four lengths at Moonee Valley. Neither McGrath or McDonald are natural self-promoters, preferring to quietly go about their respective businesses to the benefit of their clients, however a recent run of success has put the pair in the spotlight. &ldquo;Star Patrol was one of the early success stories and of course Hayasugi was a game changer last season,&rdquo; said McGrath, who was involved in her purchase along with James Bester as a weanling for $47,500 on behalf of Cara Mok, Annette Ma and his wife Julie. &ldquo;She won the Blue Diamond and has earned over $1.7million, so just a fantastic result and we also had another good 2YO in Stanley Express, who won the $1million Showdown on debut.&rdquo; In recent weeks, Clinton McDonald has produced a trio of ultra promising three year-olds all sourced with input from Shane McGrath in Jasmin Rouge, winner of the Group III MRC Thoroughbred Club Stakes, Vestas, second in the Group III VRC Red Roses Stakes and Refusetobeenglish (NZ), who bolted in on debut at the big Cranbourne standalone meeting. "I just love training and being with the horses,&rdquo; said Clinton McDonald. "I don&rsquo;t want a big stable as I am very much hands on, prefer a phone call to a text and forget an email! Shane and I have been friends for 20 years, we both know our strengths and we compliment each other. &ldquo;I love when we are looking at horses together because he doesn&rsquo;t overcomplicate the process. He has brought several new owners into the stable and we are working really hard to ensure the quality is up and my core group of owners are all part of the journey." None of the trio were expensive with Refusetobeenglish sourced from the NZB Ready to Run Sale for $120,000, Vestas from Inglis Premier for $140,000 and Jasmin Rouge for just $70,000 at Inglis Premier. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re looking for value and we&rsquo;re looking for athletes and we are also open to trading horses we purchase through the ready to run sales and that has proven to be a profitable exercise this year with the youngsters we sold educated through the McDonald training system,&rdquo; McGrath revealed. A colt by Toronado (IRE) from Pussycat Dream (GB) was sourced from Magic Millions for $90,000 and sold at Inglis Ready 2 Race for $500,000, while a Deep Field colt from Sheer Pleasure (USA) was bought from Inglis Easter for $260,000 and sold at Inglis Ready 2 Race for $750,000. The New Zealand Ready to Run Sale also delivered further success with a Snitzel colt from Hard As sourced for $60,000 at Magic Millions selling for $480,000 at Karaka and even better was a Toronado (IRE) colt from Attractive that was plucked from Inglis Premier for $97,500 and sold in New Zealand for $625,000. McGrath and McDonald were strong at the 2024 yearling sales and have a promising new group of babies in the stable, but are already planning ahead for next year. &ldquo;We are always happy to work with new investors and have a realistic view of where we can find value to suit the individual, whether that be high end colts, quality fillies, trade prospects or a mix of all three,&rdquo; said McGrath. &ldquo;Spreading risk is a key strategy and having the services of an outstanding horseman such as Clinton McDonald has streamlined the whole process from sale ring to racetrack.&rdquo; For more information contact Shane McGrath on 0407 126 056
by Tara Madgwick - Wednesday December 4

Just Rewards for Quiet Achievers

Clinton McDonald has a problem he&rsquo;s more than happy to have as he can&rsquo;t work out who is the best of his three gifted three-year-old sprinters. McDonald walked away from The Valley ecstatic after the first-up win of three-year-old colt Angel Capital in the McKenzie Stakes and three-year-old filly Hayasugi&rsquo;s second in the Moir Stakes, which he equated to a win. That third member of his trio being aimed at the feature three-year-old races is the VOBIS Showdown winner Stanley Express, who will return to racing in the VOBIS Silver Quality Handicap (1200m) at The Valley on September 27. McDonald regards Stanley Express as being potentially as talented as the other pair. He said it was a possibility the three of them could all contest the Coolmore Stud Stakes. &ldquo;Who is the best of them? We don&rsquo;t know yet, but it&rsquo;s a very pleasant problem to have.&rdquo; McDonald said Angel Capital would have his next start in the Caulfield Guineas Prelude, and then he would work out whether he would contest the Caulfield Guineas or the Coolmore Stud Stakes. As for Hayasugi, he said her next start would be in the Group 1 Manikato Stakes at The Valley on September 27. McDonald couldn&rsquo;t have been happier with Hayasugi&rsquo;s second to Mornington Glory, which was her first run since she finished last in the Golden Slipper Stakes. &ldquo;We're walking away like we've won the race, and we can't wait to get to Manikato and 1200m at the end of the month back here,&rdquo; McDonald said. The 2024 Blue Diamond Stakes winner settled off the speed and flew home to finish second, a half a length from the winner. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m over the moon with her. She was fantastic and Jamie Kah could hardly pull her up.&rdquo; McDonald said Hayasugi would contest the Manikato Stakes and if she was to win, then The Everest could enter the equation for her. But he said he had to balance that it was still early days in her career. &ldquo;It's something we'll talk about but we&rsquo;re not in any hurry. To be honest, I want to protect her a little bit as she's a three-year old filly,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll go to the Manikato and if she were to win and then all the ducks lined up, you&rsquo;d look and consider The Everest but I wouldn&rsquo;t want to go there and run fifth or sixth.&rdquo; Otherwise, McDonald said after the Manikato Stakes, Hayasugi would most likely be set for the Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington on Saturday, November 2.

Who is McDonald's best sprinter?

Clinton McDonald has no shortage of smart three-year-olds in his yard, and he may have another to add to the collection in Andrina, who won smartly on debut at Sandown on Wednesday. The $180,000 Noorilim Park (who retained a share in the ownership) product was a well-backed second favourite after some sharp jump outs, but had to overcome some pre-race drama when her bridle snapped as she was loading. She drifted from $3.90 to $4.20 in this time, but her attitude was faultless as the gear was fixed, and she maintained this manner throughout the 1300 metre contest. Settled in the one-out one-back spot by Jamie Kah, Andrina eased out professionally and looked all of a winner at the 300m mark, but favourite Romani Ite Domum ($3.50) was in for the fight. However, Andrina worked through her gears and got the upper hand in the final 100m, edging clear for an impressive debut victory. Though it&rsquo;s taken some time to get the big filly racing, McDonald was delighted with the win and envisages a big future for the daughter of Written Tycoon. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s a filly that&rsquo;s been a big work in progress, and Jamie&rsquo;s done a bit of work on her at home &ndash; she&rsquo;s 16&rsquo;3, she&rsquo;s a big filly,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s still learning what it&rsquo;s all about, she&rsquo;s growing into her action. She trialled up really well and we&rsquo;ve just been really pleased with her progress. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve just said, &lsquo;she needs to take time,&rsquo; so that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;ve done. I think the more time we give this filly, she&rsquo;ll grow into a beautiful august three-year-old or four-year-old. &ldquo;The staff have always sort of doubted me, but I could see that she would grow into something&hellip; she&rsquo;s got a bright future, and we&rsquo;re looking forward to seeing where she can go.&rdquo; McDonald also trains 2024 Blue Diamond winner Hayasugi, who was enormous in the G1 Moir Stakes first-up, as well as Angel Capital, who stunned from last in the Listed McKenzie Stakes. The latter will go to the 1400m G3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude this weekend, where he is a $4 second-favourite, and McDonald was pleased with his barrier draw of three. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice, it gives Ben (Melham) options for however he wants to ride him,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Like he said, I&rsquo;m the trainer, he&rsquo;s the jockey, so he can work that out. The horse is fit, well and ready to go.&rdquo; Darcy Cosgriff

McDonald unveils latest sharp 3YO

Saturday's Guineas Prelude at Caulfield is a telling day for Clint McDonald and could decide the immediate racing future of an emerging star colt. Angel Capital will contest the Group 3 event over 1400m after a superb win over 1200m in the McKenzie Stakes at Moonee Valley and his trainer hopes to have a clearer picture of what lies ahead this spring after the race. "It's probably the fork in the road for him to see whether we go up to the Guineas or freshen him and go back to a race like the Coolmore," McDonald said. "It's a nice problem to have, my gut's telling me that he will run a mile. Family suggests he will, how he looks suggests he will, so we just need to see it happen on Saturday." McDonald said his colt will gallop on Tuesday ahead of his second go at 1400m. "The horse has come through that race (McKenzie) in great order," McDonald said. "He's a high-class colt &hellip; the feedback I get from Ben (Melham) and Jamie (Kah) is that he's very, very good. "He's exactly where we need him to be, he's an athletic colt and his fitness is where it needs to be at this stage." Angel Capital is a $15 Caulfield Guineas chance in early markets and a $26 Coolmore hope.

Angel Capital's telling day

Three-year-old colt Angel Capital stamped himself as a Group 1 contender with his victory in the Listed McKenzie Stakes (1200m), but the pleasant problem for his trainer Clinton McDonald is which one. McDonald said his immediate thought was to head to the Caulfield Guineas but added Angel Capital might be too brilliant for 1600 metres. &ldquo;If that&rsquo;s the case, then we can head back to the Coolmore Stakes as his main option,&rdquo; McDonald said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s still learning what it&rsquo;s about and we&rsquo;re still working out whether he&rsquo;s going to be a sprinter or a middle-distance horse. &ldquo;I do have concerns, is he too brilliant to be a miler? He&rsquo;s just got that electric turn of foot and for him to do that today against good opposition, it&rsquo;s encouraging and he&rsquo;s only going to get better. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big horse and on this tight track we were a little bit worried about that, but Benny assured me he would get the job done, and he did. McDonald has always had a big opinion of Angel Capital and after he won his debut at Cranbourne, he campaigned him in Brisbane where he contested two Group 2 races for a fifth in the Champagne Classic and a ninth in the BTC Sires Produce Stakes. Angel Capital was first-up in the McKenzie Stakes and only had one trial, according to McDonald. The win gave Ben Melham a winner with his only ride at the meeting. Melham said Angel Capital is a very good colt. &ldquo;He obviously won very impressively at his first start. He didn&rsquo;t run to the best of his ability in Queensland as he wasn&rsquo;t suited by the tracks. &ldquo;He&rsquo;d been flying at home and it was good to see him come out and win in the fashion that he did today.&rdquo; Melham said the race worked out for perfectly for him and he had the race in his keeping a long way from home. Angel Capital ($5) defeated Bosustow ($13) by three quarters of a length, with Sergeant Major ($12) a length and a half away third.

McDonald capitalises at The Valley

It's been a season to remember for Clinton McDonald, particularly with his two-year olds, who he's hoping can measure up as three-year olds this spring. McDonald has Group 1 goals for Blue Diamond heroine Hayasugi, VOBIS Showdown victor Stanley Express and promising galloper Angel Capital, who have all had a getaway to Queensland over the cooler Victorian months. The Cranbourne-based trainer is eying off the major spring sprints at The Valley for Hayasugi, who is due to return to his stable later this month. "She's up on the Gold Coast, she's looking fantastic, doing really well up there," McDonald said. "She's just started doing some evens and I'm really happy with where she's at. She's getting ready for the Moir and the Manikato, gets in with no weight. They'll be two good options for her. "She ran very well at The Valley at her first start and those two races are races that three-year-old fillies have done well in." Angel Capital burst onto the scene in April with an impressive debut win at Cranbourne, before going on to finish out of the placings at his next two runs in Brisbane. Despite those losses, McDonald has maintained his faith in the Harry Angel colt, who will head towards one of the classic races this spring. "Angel Capital went to the paddock, he never handled the tracks up there, the Heavy tracks were just a disaster for him in hindsight, because he's such a big-actioned horse, he just never handled them," McDonald said. "I still think that he's a very, very good colt and he's up there in pre training, on the Gold Coast with Peter Robl. "He came back in late last week; he had three weeks in the paddock and he's done really well and he'll be on a Caulfield Guineas assignment." As for Stanley Express, who won the $1 million VOBIS Showdown at his only start to date, McDonald said that his ultimate goal is the Coolmore Stud Stakes on Victoria Derby Day. "He flew up to Queensland, he spelled up there, he's done really well, he came back late last week," McDonald said. "He's getting ready for a Coolmore, he's done extremely well that horse, he looks terrific and I'm really happy with him." McDonald believes that he's got the best crop of two-year old's he's ever had in his career, but best of all, he's still got more to look forward to. "We've got some bloody nice horses and we've still got some unraced stock, which is even more exciting," he said. Edward Salder: Jul 4 2024

News

Clinton McDonald 2YO’s set for Caulfield debut

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