According to Doug McNair, "You're only as good as the horses you're driving." But when you put them in position to win 289 races and more than $6.2 million in purses through the course of an abbreviated season — like McNair did in 2020 — you're bound to attract plenty of accolades.

And, for the 31-year-old Ontarian, those accolades were many: eight victories in six-figure races — including the Battle of Waterloo with Bettor Sun and the Fan Hanover with distaff dynamo Party Girl Hill, his ninth consecutive season surpassing $4 million in purses earned, and a nomination for the 2020 O'Brien Award for Canada's top driver.

Doug McNair and O'Brien Award finalist Warrawee Vicky

"It's always exciting to be nominated," McNair told Trot Insider. "I remember the first time I got the call, I was excited. It's the same feeling every time you get the call. Of course anything can happen, but you're guaranteed to be at least No. 2 in Canada, so that's always good!"

McNair's 289 wins in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season were the most of any driver north of the 49th parallel. In addition to his home base at Woodbine Mohawk Park, where he finished third in the local table behind Sylvain Filion and fellow O'Brien nominee Bob McClure, McNair pulled double duty on Saturdays through the summer and captured the driving title at Hanover Raceway.

"I got off to a great start in January, February and March, and then we were delayed for three months, so that was kind of tough for everybody — income-wise and mentally, too," McNair explained. "So once we cut back racing, Hanover announced they were going to race afternoons. I figured since we were just sitting around not racing for three months that I'd just try to race as much as I could. I kind of wanted to race as many races as I could throughout the rest of the year, and it worked out well. I got lucky that way."

... and McNair made the most of the momentum he built through the season. Two of his regular drives — Karma Seelster and Warrawee Vicky — are up for divisional O'Brien honours of their own, but it was a rookie colt named Exploit who brought McNair his most memorable moment of the year when he rolled off cover to stun at 35-1 in the $720,000 Metro Pace in September at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

"It's always been a huge race — not the biggest race in Canada, but the second biggest, second most prestigious," McNair said of his first ever win in the Metro Pace. "It's the biggest race for two-year-old pacing colts. I've raced in it a few times, so it was a nice win to get. I was third in it one year — I actually got unlucky and hooked wheels in the stretch. To win it this year, especially at 35-1 ... it's always nice to win those races, but at the longer odds, it's twice as exciting."

In addition to his high-profile wins with Exploit and Party Girl Hill, McNair carved out successful seasons with his two O'Brien nominees.

"Karma Seelster was one of my dad's (trainer Gregg McNair) stable stars," Doug explained. "She's owned by the legend Keith Waples, his wife and one of his daughters; it's extra special for them to have a nice horse like that."

The daughter of Sportswriter and Kiddie Cocktail happens to be a half-sister to millionaire Kendall Seelster, and she capably proved herself against Ontario's best just the same, winning three of 15 races and banking $277,570 last season.

"She hit the board in a lot of her starts, and she finished fourth in the Fan Hanover," continued McNair. "She won an Ontario Sires Stakes Gold at Grand River (on Aug. 3), and went a big mile — half in :54(.3), 1:23(.1) — those are big fractions on a track like that, That was the highlight for her."

Warrawee Vicky held her own in restricted company for owner Brad Grant, winning three Ontario Sires Stakes Gold events for three-year-old trotting fillies as well as her division of the Simcoe Stakes — a race that stands out to McNair as one of her best to date.

"She beat some decent horses that night," McNair said of the Royalty For Life-The Tall Poppy filly's 1:54 defeat of She Rocks Kemp and Whose Blues. "She's flawlessly gaited, can leave the gate fast ... any time she got the lead pretty handily, she put in a tough race. She's been a nice filly from the get-go."

While McNair may have been the common bond many star performers shared, he's quick to credit the owners and trainers who enlisted him for their roles in his season.

"Obviously, my dad was the one who got me going," he said. "This year, a lot of the guys who had top horses used me to drive. When you're getting a shot at the top horses a lot of the time, it's just going to snowball from there and make your year pretty good. No matter how you drive them, you've still got to put them in position. But when you get the good ones, it really helps you. It makes a big difference.

"It's just unbelievable how everything seemed to go so right, and then you look at Bob (McClure), and the exact same thing happened for him. Everything you did just turned to gold, and he had a great year, too."

Ultimately, McNair feels fortunate simply to have had the opportunity to race at all in 2020, given the uncertainty that COVID-19 inflicted on all aspects of daily life:

"We're lucky that we got to race last year, he said. "A lot of people don't realize how lucky we are — imagine if we didn't race at all last year. We can't complain about the O'Briens being online because we could have gone the whole year without racing and not even had the O'Briens."

McNair, who took Driver of the Year honours in 2017, will admittedly miss the traditional gala event — which was suspended for this year in light of the pandemic, but he is sure to take part in the Jan. 31 live stream from his home in Guelph, Ont.

"My girlfriend and I will be taking part in it and have a little bit of fun," McNair said. "Kelly Spencer does a great job; she'll keep things interesting. And Jason (Portuondo) and Kenny (Middleton) — they do a great job as well."

The 2020 Virtual O’Brien Awards Gala takes place on Sunday, January 31, 2021 and will be available for viewing on standardbredcanada.ca from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. (EST).