A few weeks ago, 18-year-old Guelph teen Doug McNair became the youngest driver in the history of harness racing to reach $1 million in career earnings.

On Monday, December 15, he surpassed another milestone, marking the 100th driving win of his rookie season. The victory came aboard five-year-old pacer Waterside Matters in race seven at Western Fair Raceway in London, ON.

McNair scored 29 of those 100 wins at his hometown track, Grand River Raceway in Elora, ON.

In 2007, at the infancy of his emerging career as a harness driver, Doug McNair wasn’t even sufficiently licensed to compete in a young guns race staged at Grand River Raceway to spotlight the sport’s up-and-coming drivers.

One year later, on August 4, 2008, he won the track’s signature event — the $300,000 Battle of Waterloo. The younger McNair executed a masterful drive to pilot his father’s horse, Trail Boss, to a half-length finish over hard-closing runner-up Josh Seelster.

Trainer Gregg McNair co-owns the homebred colt with his mother, Doug’s grandmother, Gwendolyn McNair. The $150,000 payday for the McNair family marks their first victory in the 11-year history of the Battle of Waterloo.

(Grand River Raceway)