The day I won £16,800... for just 80 seconds of work: Champion jockey PJ McDonald on starting out as a stablehand and working long hours

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Champion jockey PJ McDonald started out as a stablehand, unable to ride and earning just £20 a week.

He can now earn nearly £17,000 in just 80 seconds on the racecourse – as long as, he says, he has the ‘right horse’ underneath him. Yesterday, he rode two horses at Ascot on British Champions Day.

McDonald, a former jump jockey, is the flat president of the Professional Jockeys Association and an ambassador for QIPCO British Champions Day.

Victory: PJ McDonald celebrates winning the French Oaks in Chantilly

He always knew he wanted to work with horses and left school at 14 to pursue his dream.

He regularly works 15-hour days to be able to race, earning millions of pounds for the owners of the horses he rides.

Now 36, he lives with wife Abigail, 30, and daughters Amelia, four, and two-year-old Lavinia, in North Yorkshire.

What did your parents teach you about money?

To respect it. Money was hard to come by when I was growing up, so I was taught to be sensible and careful when I had it. 

My dad was a farm labourer while mum was a housewife. I was one of three kids and money was tight. We lived in a three-bedroom council house in a small Irish village called Taghmon.

What was the first paid work you ever did?

Farm labouring when I was ten. I spent an entire day chucking out tyres and spraying sheep – and I only got paid £4. I was disgusted but it gave me an amazing insight into how hard dad had to work each day.

I worked with horses for the first time when I was 14. I heard about an opportunity to work as a stablehand in a racing stables for £20 a week, and left school that day to take the job. 

I always knew I wanted to work with horses. I could not ride at the time, so I started at the bottom and worked my way up.

Prestige: The jockey rode Laurens, taking a seven per cent cut of the prize

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

No. I have been quite lucky and have never been out of work. When I was 16, I did have to get by on sick pay for a few months after I was kicked by a horse. That was stressful but I always had enough to eat.

Have you ever been paid silly money?

Yes. I won the French Oaks this year. It took me about 80 seconds and financially that was a good race to win. 

The overall prize was £240,000 and I got a seven per cent cut (£16,800). It felt good, but the prestige of winning was more important than the money.

What was the best year of your financial life?

Last year. I rode 128 races compared to 80 the year before and earned a six-figure sum. You get improved opportunities as a jockey the better you do. No matter how good you are, you cannot win if you do not have the right horse underneath you.

What is the best money decision you have made?

Buying my home. It is a four-bedroom house in Leyburn, North Yorkshire. I bought it a couple of years ago for £334,000 and it is now worth £400,000.

Do you save into a pension or invest in the stock market?

I save into a pension through the Jockey Club. It is a good scheme because the owners of the horses have to contribute each time I ride.

I think a pension is important. For me it is all about financial security once I retire from riding – the latest retirement age for a jockey is about 50. It is a risky job and not one you want to do as you get older.

I do not invest in the stock market. I would not have a clue about how to go about it, have no interest and probably would not understand what I was doing.

'I would cut the tax on diesel because it costs a fortune', says PJ Mcdonald

Do you switch off the lights when you leave the room?

Yes I do. That is all I do every morning – I go round my house switching the lights off. I am turning into my dad. I do not like wasting money. I am careful.

If you were Chancellor what would you do?

I would cut the tax on diesel because it costs a fortune. Because of my job I have to drive to racecourses all over the country. Some days it costs more to go racing than I earn when there.

I work seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. I think there are only two days of the year when there is no racing.

People do not understand and would not believe the hours I work. Each day I get up at 5.30am to be in the stables and ride out at 6am. 

I ride a couple of horses, then typically drive for say three hours to a racecourse, race all day until 6pm and then it is a long drive home. There are days I spend 12 hours in the car and ride maybe two horses for five minutes.

What is your number one financial priority?

To be mortgage free when I finish riding. I do not want to have the pressure of a big mortgage hanging over my head when it is time to pack in racing.