Twenty-four hours after piloting Nature Strip to victory in the $15 million Everest, jockey James McDonald was still on a high but there is a steely focus to land another major win with Zaaki in the Cox Plate on Saturday.

“I’m still singing Sweet Caroline. What a day. I have never seen a crowd like that before, it made it unreal,” McDonald said. “But with Nature Strip it’s much bigger than just that one day for me.

“That is what he deserved – to win The Everest – but the story of what he has put us through, the ups and downs, make it better.

“It hasn’t always been easy and that was a very, very good version of him that turned up on the biggest day.”

McDonald and premier trainer Chris Waller have worked to find the best of the quirky, explosive sprinter and a barrier extension, used for the first time on raceday in The Everest, might just have done the trick.

“We have tinkered with a lot of little things and Chris is always trying different things to get the best out of him,” McDonald said. “He is such a talent, but the hardest thing was showing how good he actually is.

“A couple of weeks ago I rang Chris and asked about the barrier extension. He is so big that I felt he was just getting cramped up in the barriers and just missing it a little.

“It might have only been 30 centimetres at the start, but it makes a difference to the whole race. On Saturday, it was the best he has jumped for me and when you look at the margin at the end [a long head] that might have been the difference.”

McDonald has had so much success with Waller in the past couple of years, particularly with Nature Strip and Verry Elleegant, but they will become the best of enemies in the Cox Plate.