A Homecoming For PEI's MacDonald?

What kind of strategy does a driver bring into a contest where he has to beat the province's best to qualify for a shot to take on the best in Canada on home soil?

As one of eight drivers competing in Friday's Ontario Regional Driving Championship at Western Fair Raceway, Prince Edward Island native John MacDonald is looking forward to his chance of driving against Canada's best in May. Standing in his way: only seven of the best drivers harness racing has to offer.

When asked by Trot Radio's Norm Borg if he'd shift to a more front-end speed style over the half-mile track, Rideau Carleton's top reinsman stated that it's not his gameplan.

"I think a lot of guys are going to have that approach, so you kind of have to pick your spots," said MacDonald. "When you have good position and a horse with good gate speed you have to pick your spots because there's quite a few aggressive front-end drivers in the competition."

MacDonald talked about what he thinks his key is to winning and more on this edition of Trot Radio. The full interview is available below.

Episode 188 – Driver John MacDonald

Audio Format: MP3 audio

Host: Norm Borg

The top two point earners on Friday night will move on to compete in the National Driving Championship on Saturday, May 7 at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at Charlottetown Driving Park to determine Canada’s representative for the World Driving Championship.

The championship will kick off in Race 3 (with an approximate post time of 7:40 p.m.) and also includes Race 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

The drivers competing in the Ontario Regional are:

• Simon Allard
• Gord Brown
• Scott Coulter
• Trevor Henry
• Jody Jamieson
• John MacDonald
• Doug McNair
• Scott Zeron

Drivers receive points as follows:

(• Finish - Points)
• 1st - 15
• 2nd - 10
• 3rd - 7
• 4th - 5
• 5th - 4
• 6th - 3
• 7th - 2
• 8th - 1

Post time for Friday’s first race is 7:05 p.m. To view entries for Friday's card of harness racing, please click the following link: Friday Entries – Western Fair.

Click here to print off a free program of Western Fair's entire Friday card, courtesy of TrackIT.

Please note that the opinions expressed in the following interview are those of the participant and do not necessarily reflect Rideau Carleton Raceway and/or Standardbred Canada.