MacDonald To Drive In US

Mark MacDonald has not been in the bike for a charted race since November 7 of last year, but all of that will change this Thursday (February 23)

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MacDonald, a two-time O'Brien Award winner as Canada's Driver of the Year, is scheduled to steer a pair of Mark Ford-trained horses at Yonkers Raceway.

"I've got a few in on Thursday there. I'm going to head down to New York and I'm hoping to pick up some more on the weekend," MacDonald told Trot Insider. "I really love racing at WEG but I always wanted to try it out down there just for a change to try something new."

The career winner of 4,928 races has driven his mounts to over $66-million in purse earnings. He is scheduled to drive Heaven And Hall (Race 2, PP7, 6-1) and Tongue Twister (Race 10, PP4, 5-1) on Yonkers' 12-dash Thursday docket.

MacDonald, 33, drove in 1,037 pari-mutuel races in 2011. He recorded 110 wins, 103 seconds and 100 thirds while steering his mounts to over $2.7-million in purse earnings.

The fact that MacDonald was able to start in as many races as he did in 2011 came as a surprise to some, as the resident of Cambridge, Ont. was involved in a serious racing accident at Mohawk Racetrack on May 26. He returned to the bike much faster than anyone anticipated on June 25 when he steered Western Silk in Flamboro Downs' Ellamony Stakes.

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