Driver Mark MacDonald came into Friday’s card of racing at Mohawk Racetrack needing one win for 4,000 in his career and he reached that milestone with a slick steer aboard Miss Quebec in the fourth race.
With Post 3, Miss Quebec and MacDonald were unhurried early and landed into seventh. The five-year-old Life Sign mare, who is trained by Michael Grant, raced along the rail through panels of :26.3, :54.3 and 1:23.1.
Around the last turn, Miss Quebec was buried behind horses for MacDonald and appeared to need a minor miracle if she was going to make an impact. Down the stretch, however, the seas parted and MacDonald stick-handled Miss Quebec between rivals, eventually allowing her to shoot through along the pylons and hit the wire first, winning by a neck in 1:51.3.
MacDonald enjoyed a career season in 2006 when he won 745 races – a Canadian record – and banked $11,450,892. In 2008, the Cambridge, Ontario resident has 114 victories and has collected purses of nearly $3.9 million.
The 2005 and 2006 O’Brien Award winner for Driver-of-the-Year in Canada has career earnings in excess of $47 million.
To view Mohawk’s results, click here.