John MacDonald earned his 1,000th career training win when he guided his own pacer Capt Jack Hanover to victory in the $8,904 ninth race at Vernon Downs on Friday, May 30.
After an early give-and-go move, MacDonald reclaimed the lead at the half with 3-5 favourite Capt Jack Hanover and held off late-closer Major Leaguer (Jimmy Whittemore) to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:53 for the milestone moment. Keg Party (Leon Bailey) was a game third after being parked through the sizzling :26.1 opening quarter.
The Vernon, New York-based horseman co-owns Capt Jack Hanover with Michael Kessler and Speed To Burn Racing Stable. Capt Jack Hanover was MacDonald's third starter at Vernon Downs in 2025 after beginning the racing season at Cal Expo. He boasts an outstanding 0.634 UTRS with 24 wins from 42 starts so far this year.
MacDonald, a 43-year-old native of Charlottetown, P.E.I., was a leading horseman at Rideau Carleton Raceway in Ontario before moving stateside in 2013. He has topped the 100-win mark in a single season twice in his career, in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018, posting a career high 151 wins in the latter season. He's trained winners of $5.3 million lifetime and boasts a career UTRS of .350. MacDonald also has 4,736 driving wins.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of John MacDonald from a previous driving win)