LOGAN RACING IN THE NEWS

JAMES McDONALD will head to Ellerslie on Wednesday in peak form.

The Sydney-based Kiwi, who has nine mounts on January 1, maintained a rich vein of form with a winning treble in Sydney on Saturday.

McDonald had three wins and a third from five mounts at Canterbury, with his winners all trained by John Hawkes.

McDonald, who is also riding at Taupo today, began his recent run when he won the A$250,000 Inglis Nursery on Mossfun on December 14 and has rarely been out of the money since, with 10 wins and 11 placings from his last 32 rides.

 He had a winning double at Hawkesbury on December 15, another double at Wyong four days later and had a win and four placings from six mounts at Randwick on Boxing Day.

  He is in 10th place on the Sydney premiership but has had comparatively few mounts, after riding regularly in Melbourne over the spring.

 His winning percentage in Sydney of 15.3 per cent is the fourth best, behind Nash Rawiller, Tommy Berry and Kerrin McEvoy, and superior to Jim Cassidy, Hugh Bowman and Glyn Schofield.

 McDonald’s main mount at Ellerslie this week will be Durham Town in the $200,000 Group I Railway Stakes (1200m).

Durham Town has drawn out at 10 but will come in two places if the ballots are scratched and is the best-weighted runner.

 He has a handicap rating of 106 and won the Group III Stewards (1200m) at Riccarton with 59.5kg at his last start, but will carry just 56kg on Wednesday, 1kg less than he carried in the Railway in 2012 and 2013.

 He was giving up to 6.5kg to his rivals at Riccarton but is much better off under the set weight conditions this week.

 He will give 4kg to three-year-olds Bounding and Shezhardtocatch and no more than 3kg to the remainder of the field and meets Stewards runner-up Natuzzi 3.5kg better off than was the case at Riccarton.

Though a six-year-old, Durham Town has been lightly raced, with just 21 starts, and has an outstanding record at Ellerslie, with six wins and three placings from 11 attempts. He failed at Ellerslie as a maiden, on a heavy track, and his other unplaced run came when he was badly checked in the 2012 Railway.

In addition, McDonald has had just two rides on Durham Town and won both. He rode the Falkirk gelding for the first time when he beat Vonusti in the 2012 Darley Plate at Ellerslie and for the second time in the Stewards.

‘‘James was keen to come back for the Railway, after the Stewards, and you aren’t going to turn down an offer like that,’’ trainer Donna Logan said. ‘‘To give yourself the best chance, you need to get the best riders.’’

Logan also believes that Durham Town is at his physical peak. ‘‘He’s strengthened up so much and is a lot more mature now. I think this is the best he’s ever been.

‘‘He’s had a trial since Riccarton and he’s right where we want him. The draw should be OK and might give us some options.’’

The Railway has long been high on Logan’s wish list. ‘‘We try to peak our horses for these meetings and we haven’t won a Railway. We’ve gone close a few times and I’d love to win it.’’

Dashing Donna ran second for the Logan stable in the 2009 Railway, after starting from the outside barrier, and ran fifth two years later, beaten less than a length, after being late clear.

 Durham Town ran third this year and Vain Ana was third in 1999, while Jazzella finished fifth in 2010.

McDonald will also ride Mosquito (City Of Auckland Cup) and Kendoka (Dunstan Final) for Logan on Wednesday, while the stable’s others runners will be Rising Romance and Telepathic, who are likely to clash in the Group II Royal Stakes (2000m).

Rising Romance is also an acceptor for the Group II Championship Stakes (2100m) but a wide draw  there has meant she is more likely to run in the Royal.

The Ekraar filly won a listed race over 1500m at Ellerslie last month, before finishing well for third in the Eight Carat Classic (1600m) on Boxing Day.

Logan won the New Zealand Derby with the top class filly Habibi this year and is confident that Rising Romance can also become a Derby contender, along with stablemate Stand Your Ground, who won a maiden three-year-old 1600m at Ellerslie on Saturday.

  Mosquito made ground for seventh in the Waikato Cup (2400m) at his last start and is a lightweight chance this week, though his campaign has been aimed to peak the horse for the Auckland Cup (3200m) in March.

 Kendoka, a Reset mare raced by Peter Vela, has had only six starts and won a rating 65 2200m at Ellerslie at her last start. ‘‘She’s a lovely staying mare,’’ Logan said.

 McDonald’s other confirmed mounts on Wednesday are Duquesa (r1), In Style (r2), Dezignator (Championship Stakes), Persuasive (Royal Stakes), Capone (Rich Hill Mile) and Adolay (r10).

Duquesa, an Encosta De Lago mare from Melbourne Cup winner Ethereal, tackles the special conditions 2100m after winning a 2200m maiden at Ellerslie by more than five lengths at her last start.

Mosquito pictured here parading before the Group 2, City of Auckland Cup. Photo courtesy of Ropati Photography.