"It was nice to get a little love in Canada again."
Mark MacDonald, the Prince Edward Island native who has committed to drive in Canada this year after a move stateside some 15 years ago, returned to action at Woodbine Mohawk Park at the end of March with his first drives since last October and overcoming a major health scare. MacDonald landed back in the winner's circle multiple times this past weekend.
The well-travelled reinsman celebrated victory on Saturday, April 4 with the Paul Court-trained pacer Stonebridge Helios in the 11th race claiming handicap, overtaking favourite Code Cracker after a parked-out first quarter and going on to win by 3-1/2 lengths in 1:51.1 over the "good' going at odds of 5-1.
MacDonald capped off a winning weekend in the sixth race conditioned trot on Sunday, April 5 when he circled the Garry Merner-trained trotter Passarino three-wide from the backfield turning for home to spring an 11-1 upset and defeat brother James aboard Seeking Salvation by one length in 1:55.2.
A career winner of more than 6,700 races including many of the sport's top Grand Circuit events, MacDonald is no stranger to the thrill of victory, but shared his perspective on a different feeling associated with a comeback win in an interview on the Mohawk broadcast with host Jeff Bratt this past Sunday evening.
"It's a little different getting the feel of them again, you know, I mean, getting the feel of the race and driving with a different bunch of drivers," said MacDonald, who was a back-to-back O'Brien Award winner as Canada's Driver of the Year in 2005 and 2006. "But you know, it was good. It's nice. It's always nice to win a race. You feel good about yourself; it gives you some confidence."
While the Campbellville, Ont. oval is a familiar course, the competitive driving colony has changed over the years with Bratt noting the emergence of MacDonald's brother James, the five-time reigning Driver of the Year, among other top reinsmen in the sport like Bob McClure, Doug McNair and Louis-Philippe Roy.
"And there's a lot of good young drivers here, too," added MacDonald. "It's tough. But, you know, I was lucky to get a lot of support and they showed me a lot of love and I got some reps in and some qualifiers and, you know, got to feeling pretty good on the track. And last night, I felt really good. And tonight, I felt good too.
"It makes a difference; a couple of wins and people see you're still alive."
MacDonald, whose last Mohawk win was in 2022 with Breeders Crown champion-turned-sire King Of The North, is now looking forward to what's ahead as the season starts to ramp up.
"It's my favourite time of year," he said. "I really like driving young horses. So it was nice to get back and kind of get into the swing of things before everything starts going, and who knows."
Watch Mark MacDonald's interview with Woodbine's Jeff Bratt below from the Sunday, April 5 broadcast. The interview takes place before the eighth race and begins at the 4:13:20 mark.
(Standardbred Canada)