It was September 1st, 2001 and the $1.1 million Metro Pace was heading to the gate. As the field approached the first turn, a son of Matts Scooter named Mach Three was working hard to take the early lead.

At the quarter pole, he captured the front. By three-quarters, he was shuffled back to fifth, and to my eyes, he was gapping cover.

“Mach Three is done,” I said under my breath.

With the likes of Western Shooter, Western Maverick, Camystic and Red River Hanover in the race, I stood there confident that a hard used Mach Three, with only four career races under his belt, would have to wait for another day to win his first stakes final.

That night would teach me not to underestimate this horse. With Michel Lachance driving, the powerful bay came off the rail and swept past his rivals to take the Metro in the final strides.

The two-year-old, who was owned, bred, based and raced in Ontario, won seven of nine that year, losing the Breeders Crown by just a nose. At three, he finished second in the North America Cup and won the Meadowlands Pace and a division of the Little Brown Jug.

Despite winning 18 races and earning $2,376,700 on the racetrack, Mach Three never did win an O’Brien Award. He was edged out by Western Shooter (2001) and Art Major (2002), respectively, in his age and gait category.

Despite his offspring earning more than $102 million, all while standing at Tara Hills Stud in Port Perry, for the Muscara family – and despite siring Somebeachsomewhere, considered by many to be the greatest pacer we’ve ever seen - Mach Three is not yet in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Despite becoming a tremendous stallion in both New Zealand and Australia, and siring Southern hemisphere pacing sensation Auckland Reactor, Mach Three’s global impact has never been fully measured so that we can appropriately appreciate his accomplishments around the world.

On January 20th, 2017, we learned that Mach Three had tragically passed away following a paddock accident at Alabar Farms in Waiau Pa, New Zealand. The news shook the harness racing industry across North America and overseas.

Now we are left to reflect.

As the offspring of Mach Three race on our tracks, and the sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters of this great horse live on around the world – it’s quite clear that this fantastic horse will never again be underestimated or overlooked.

As he taught me in the 2001 Metro Pace – Never forget about Mach Three.

Darryl Kaplan
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