MacDonald Joins $100 Million Club

Published: August 24, 2020 02:44 pm EDT

Mark MacDonald can be called many things. Standardbred reinsman is one. Two-time O'Brien Award winner is another. Now, if you weren't aware, the native of Prince Edward Island can now also be referred to as a '$100 Million Man.'

MacDonald earned the $100 million distinction earlier this month when he steered two-year-old Cantab Hall filly Lady Chaos to a 1:54.2 victory during Kentucky Sire Stakes action at the Red Mile in Lexington, Kentucky.

Mark, who is the brother of fellow reinsmen Anthony and James MacDonald, put the Canadian racing scene on notice in the late 1990s when he started steering in pari-mutuel races in Ontario and Quebec. His talents in the race bike soon landed him more and more drives, as he would go on to make a name for himself at Ontario's 'B' tracks and on the Woodbine Entertainment Group circuit. MacDonald went on to dominate in Ontario and picked up a couple of O'Brien Awards for his efforts along the way.

Another thing that MacDonald can surely be called is 'resilient.'

MacDonald, who has steered his drives to 6,253 victories over the course of his career, has more than proven his mettle to the legion of reinsmen in North America. He has had the bad luck of being involved in some very serious racing accidents. A pair of significant spills in southern Ontario could've very easily derailed MacDonald's career in the sulky early on, but the tenacious pilot persevered through the process and proved undeterred.

MacDonald would go on to relocate to Goshen, New York in 2012, where he has continued his successful career in the bike. Things slowed down significantly in the summer of 2019, though, but only due to an unlucky turn of events at Saratoga Casino Hotel with a two-year-old. MacDonald sustained a serious shoulder injury in the July accident, which required surgery and a healthy amount of down time. With the 2020 racing season having been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MacDonald made his return to pari-mutuel action in June.

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