Veteran Prince Edward Island driver-trainer Paul MacDonald died Saturday afternoon shortly after competing on a race program at Charlottetown Driving Park Entertainment Centre.
MacDonald, 57, collapsed in his tack room while changing out of his driver suit after he drove in Race 6 on a race card that welcomed back Little Brown Jug winner Shadow Play.
MacDonald had been in the hunt with the three-year-old pacing filly Sarah Catherine, a filly named after his daughter, until the stretch drive when she tired and finished 7th. Cheryl Poulton, who worked with MacDonald in his Charlottetown stable, found him on the floor of the tack room shortly after the race, the victim of an apparent massive heart seizure.
He received medical attention on the scene before being rushed to hospital, where he died on arrival. News of the driver’s condition cast a pall over the driving park, where close to 1,000 fans had turned out to welcome home the world champion three-year-old pacing colt Shadow Play.
Shadow Play had gone a workout mile before returning to the winner’s circle for a cooler presentation. It was just before the cooler presentation that Shadow Play’s trainer and co-owner Dr. Ian Moore was quietly informed of MacDonald’s condition.
“It was deeply unfortunate. Paul was a highly respected horsemen who had many friends in the sport,” said Dr. Moore, who had raced against MacDonald in many major races.
MacDonald, younger brother of Mike MacDonald, the all-time winningest driver in Gold Cup and Saucer history, had driven close to 1,600 winners in his career. Among his major victories was his 1:57.4 victory in the 1987 Gold Cup and Saucer and his Atlantic Sires Stakes victory aboard Maple Grove Shadow at Champlain Raceway, the first sub-2:00 mile in Atlantic Sires Stakes history. MacDonald had 23 wins this season and had campaigned the promising two-year-old pacing colt Haggis Macbagpipe for the Greenoaks Farm of Mississauga, Ont., a multi-stakes winner.
“Paul was a very talented driver, a good horseman,” said Fred MacDonald, a veteran turf scribe, who had followed MacDonald’s career.
MacDonald was followed into the sport by his son Danny, a driver-trainer at the CDP.
Funeral arrangements were not complete.
(Atlantic Post Calls)