MACDONALD BECOMING A “FORCE” WITH LIGHTLY-RACED GELDING

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ANDREW MacDonald says he is a “jack of all trades, and master of none”.

But the Newcastle horseman, who helps out with clerk of the course duties at Port Macquarie and Taree when called up, is certainly mastering the training caper, especially with yesterday’s Scone winner Force March.

The lightly-raced four-year-old son of dual Group 1 winner Grunt made it two wins on end with a superb performance under 61kg topweight in the Class 1 Handicap (1300m).

When nothing else wanted to lead, Mikayla Weir took up the running on the $3 second favorite – and it was a comfortable watch thereafter.

Despite conceding second placegetter Summer Force ($2.80 favorite) a tidy 6kg, MacDonald’s gelding was too strong and scored by just over a length.

“I spoke to the trainer (Lou Mary) and jockey (Jean Van Overmeire) of the runner-up afterwards,” MacDonald said today.

“She is a three-year-old filly having only her third start (for one win and two seconds) and is promising.

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“Jean felt he was going to get us in the straight, but couldn’t quite match our horse.”

MacDonald found Force March online, and purchased him as a yearling in April 2024 for $5500.

“He was part of a Yu Long dispersal sale, but we’ve had to be patient with him,” he said.

“Force March had a few niggling problems, and needed time to furnish and mature.

“Christian Reith recommended putting on ear muffs pre-race to keep him settled, and it’s doing the job this preparation.”

Force March ran second on resumption at the Beaumont track on August 25 in an 1150m Maiden before decisively breaking through in a 1280m Maiden at Muswellbrook on September 8.

The four-year-old’s six starts have now produced two wins and three placings, and he finished fourth at Newcastle in March at his only unplaced run.

MacDonald has half a dozen horses in work along with a couple of young ones, and says he will look for a suitable race to give Force March the opportunity to clinch a hat-trick.

“We’re probably out of country class now,” he said.

“Force March has pulled up well this morning, and perhaps he can go to back to the provincials or even a midweek in town.”

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HOOFNOTE: Force March has a link to MacDonald’s fellow Newcastle trainer Mark Minervini.

The gelding’s dam Apprise (who raced only twice for a Wyong success), a daughter of Redoute’s Choice, is out of the Testa Rossa mare Vormista, whom Minervini had great success with.

He won three races in a row in Adelaide with her as a three-year-old in 2007 and then another later that year at Flemington as a four-year-old.

Vormista also was thrice runner-up in Group 1s; the 2017 Manikato Stakes at The Valley, 2008 BTC Cup at Doomben, and 2009 Australia Day Stakes back at The Valley.

STORY JOHN CURTIS, SEPTEMBER 26, 2026 - PICS BRADLEY PHOTOS