John MacDonald capped his season at Vernon Downs on closing night, Saturday, November 4, with six driving wins and three training wins on the program.
MacDonald was top driver with 185 wins on the season and top trainer with 57 wins on the year. He's also the owner and trainer of Oh My Joepa, who won Horse of the Year honours with nine wins at Vernon Downs.
MacDonald's six driving wins on the night came with Always Flash-N ($3.10), Forty Carrotss ($9.30), Major Master Piece ($5.70), Talk To Me Courage N ($9.50), Hurricane Howard ($5.00), and Sucrose Hanover ($3.30). He got his training victories with Major Master Piece, Hurricane Howard, and Sucrose Hanover.
In the $7,500 featured pace, Arsenic and Chris Lems edged to victory in 1:52..
Golden Gun put up all the early fractions, pacing in :26.4, :56.0, 1:24.0. Arsenic, who is owned by Scott Dillon and trained by Heidi Rohr, battled Golden Gun all the way down the stretch, nipping him at the wire in 1:52.0. Love To Roll finished third.
Arsenic, paying $4.90 to win, entered the winner's circle for the fifth time this season while gathering the 13th win of his career.
Vernon Downs management and staff would like to thank all the horsemen and fans for a great 2017 season.
(With files from Vernon Downs)