Another WA young gun bound for Victoria

In-form West Australian reinsman Bailey McDonough is set to make the move to Victoria next Sunday after being offered a position working for one of Australia’s leading harness stables, Tonkin Stewart Racing.

After turning down an opportunity last year to work for prominent trainer David Aiken, McDonough wasn’t making that mistake again, saying that if he is ever going to make it, it’s with the opportunity to relocate to the successful stable.

The 23-year-old, who out-drove his concession in WA some time ago, will be heading to Victoria where he will be regaining his driving concession in the new state.

“It’s a good opportunity and good experience. To work in the leading Victorian stable, I’m sure I’ll take a heap away from it and come back better,” McDonough said.

The young reinsman was destined to be involved in harness racing, with his family having a long-standing involvement in the industry, based in the Bunbury trotting complex.

“I always knew I’d be in harness racing in some form from a young age, but I can remember waking up early before school to watch replays of pop’s winners, watching the same races every day and end up late to school each time, but it was obvious I couldn’t wait to become a driver,” he said.

Frank Bonnett (McDonough’s grandfather) has been a licenced trainer since the 1992/93 season and has trained a total of 344 winners, spanning over almost three decades of involvement in WA harness racing.

McDonough’s mum, Maree Bonnett, has been a licenced trainer off and on between 1995 and 2017, training 75 winners herself, including the Group 1 2YO Colts and Geldings State Sires series in 2010 with Nic Nak Nero.

“My entire family is involved in harness racing. Pop is still training, my mum helps him out and nan screams encouragement at the TV. My dad (Allan McDonough) trains and works over east in Victoria and is one of the main reasons for the move east,” McDonough said.

Gaining most of his trial drives from his pop and the odd outside drive from a few local trainers, McDonough gained his licence in July 2014 and on January 10, 2015 steered home his first winner with the Bob Mellsop-trained Your Excused. That was in the Garrards Junior Concession Driver Challenge at Bunbury, winning the $10,000 feature with the $1.90 favourite.

“Before driving my first winner, I can recall Bob (Mellsop) being dead serious and saying ‘don’t come back if you don’t win’. After that I was just trying to work out how I could jump out and avoid Bob, but lucky for me, it got up,” McDonough said.

McDonough has driven in a total of 2310 races for 193 wins and 458 places and largely attributes his success to his grandfather.

“My biggest influence in the game was and still is my pop. He watches all my races and gives me the most encouragement, and that pushes me to strive for more. Alongside that, Hayden Reeves has been a huge influence in my driving the last few years and without him I wouldn’t be where I am now,” he said.

McDonough has spent the last seven years working for a number of stables, gaining experience from the likes of Stephen Reed, Matty White, Frank Bonnett, Greg and Skye Bond, Barry Howlett and Colin Brown.

Last season, McDonough took out the leading driving premierships at Albany, Wagin, Northam and Collie, as well as leading junior driver at Bunbury, Bridgetown and Williams.

“I fell in love with the sport growing up and watching pop train and have very good success with a lot of horses. He made it look a lot easier that it is out there,” he said.

“My greatest win would be the Group 2 James Brennan on Our Jimmy Johnston. He gave me my first taste of competing at some of the highest levels of racing there is. Apart from that, driving a winner for the family is something I’ll never get tired of.”

With a lifetime of involvement in the industry, it’s a sad loss for the WA harness racing fraternity. McDonough will have his last drive in the state next Saturday at his home track, Bunbury, before heading to Victoria on Sunday, July 18.

“It does beg the question why am I leaving when it’s all going so well, but sometimes it’s worth taking the risk,” he said.

By Ashleigh Paikos for RWWA