Apprentice jockey James McDonald has set a New Zealand record for winners in a single season.
He rode home number 198 on Friday afternoon at the Counties meeting in Pukekohe, to beat the record set by Lisa Cropp six years ago.
McDonald's mount Cool Cruising slogged through the mud to victory in the seventh race on the programme, just before the last two races were abandoned because of bad weather and fading light.
The 19-year-old has six more weeks in the season to extend the record.
In the meantime, he will return on Saturday to the Brisbane Winter Carnival, where he rode the New Zealand filly Scarlet Lady to victory in the Queensland Oaks last weekend.
