DRF HARNESS HOME DIGITAL HARNESS EYE HARNESS PPS DRF BETS ENTRIES ARCHIVE THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2021 MacDonald on top of the world after Pace win well 50-1 and above shots are being driven, but catch-drivers understand no matter how NEW PLAYERS JAYWALKING bad the odds look on paper their job is to do the best for each horse they steer. DOUBLE YOUR By Jay Bergman Luck has always been a major force in this sport and without question Lawless Shadow’s FIRST DEPOSIT @BergmanJay trainer Dr. Ian Moore has sent countless horses to The Meadowlands without MacDon- UP TO ald getting the call. This year when he elected There’s no question that driver Mark $250 MacDonald would rather have “earned” the Join Now: promos.drf.com/offer victory in Saturday’s (July 17) Meadowlands Pace than be elevated to the top spot due to another driver’s misdeeds. Yet when you consider how far MacDonald has come just to be at the The Big M on a Meadowlands Pace Inside this issue night, let alone drive the ultimate winner, it’s easy to root for him. Precisely two years ago MacDonald was Derick Giwner: Video evidence is all that thrown from the sulky at Saratoga Harness matters in disqualifications, Page 5 by an unmanageable horse. His recovery had him on a solid path to get back in the sulky Darin Zoccali: Standardbreds going the in 2020. way of Thoroughbreds?, Page 8 “Then Covid hit,” MacDonald said on Monday (July 19). “I had to make a decision on Inside post gives the edge to Leonidas where to go and I decided to go to Kentucky.” A in $150,000 Gerrity, Page 9 Needless to say for MacDonald, who had Anoka Hanover preps for Hambletonian been a top driver on the WEG circuit before emigrating to the States and was once a rising Oaks in Tompkins at Big M, Page 11 star in metropolitan New York, the move to On The Backstretch: Profile of USTA’s Kentucky was his way of understanding that the only way a catch-driver can put himself Wendy Ross, Page 13 back on top is to start at the bottom. Manchego headlines Spirit of Mass. While Kentucky did give MacDonald driv- Trot; Best Bets & Analysis, Page 15 ing opportunities in 2020, it was hardly a lucrative move, but persistence is something that tends to pay off and when it came to where JAMES LISA/LISA PHOTO Industry Headlines: Adios eliminations Driver Mark MacDonald raises the to drive this winter, MacDonald took a stand. lure 23 hopefuls, Page 16 Meadowlands Pace trophy after his win “I decided to come to the Meadowlands and with Lawless Shadow. Comments? Questions? stick it out,” MacDonald said. While it’s just a Email the Editor [email protected] few nights a week, MacDonald was interested in letting trainers know that he was going to to drop in the box for the premier Meadow- be there if his services were required. lands sophomore pacing contest, a host of top TO ENSURE PROPER delivery While the driving opportunities were pilots he’s used in the past had prior commit- OF THE NEWSLETTER VIA still a bit slim, MacDonald was able to gain ments. Add to the mix the fact that Lawless EMAIL, ADD [email protected]. some attention on the racetrack and find the Shadow’s past performance lines were good winner’s circle when given a live horse. Few com to your contact LIST who watch the game take notice of just how CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 Congratulations to last weekeknd’s Ohio Sires Stakes Winners! Coming up Friday, July 23 at Scioto Downs 3-Year-Old Colt Trot ~ Leg 3 Saturday, July 24 at Scioto Downs 2 Year-Old Colt Trotter~ Leg 2 Winner 3-Year-Old Filly Pacer Leg 3 Winner 2-Year-Old Colt & Filly Pace~ Leg 2 Caviar Gold Summer Touch © 2021 Daily Racing Form, LLC - 10 Grand Central, 3rd Floor, NY, NY 10017 A CUT ABOVE... in the auction ring #1 Mixed Sale Consignor (by average) Somwherovrarainbow in 2020 at Lexington and Timonium. selling for $240,000 Lexington Mixed Sale Sold the top-priced horse of the sale—Creature of Habit at $350,000; Also, highest average of $112,000. Black Book Mixed Sale Highest average for broodmares. Highest average for racehorses. Highest average of all mixed sale consignors that sold more than 2 horses. CALL TODAY FOR A Sold the two highest-priced broodmares— FREE CONSULTATION Somwherovrarainbow at $240,000 and (717) 683-7100 Live Laugh Love at $150,000. [email protected] Now accepting As we expand our sales division,Harrisburg Diamond Mixed Creek Sale Entries looks forward to earning your business.Due Aug. 30 LISA PHOTO King Of The North has put up a perfect record in three career starts for the team of Mark MacDonald and Ray Schnittker. capturing the $200,000 event had much to do with MacDonald’s under- CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 standing of the race and the horse he was driving. “I’ve been driving him for quite some time,” said MacDonald. “I but hardly reason enough for the sport’s “A” list drivers to hop off a was training him for Ray and sat behind him a lot over the winter regular mount. and spring. He’s a very smart colt that you can drive like an aged It’s those factors that a driver in MacDonald’s shoes needs in order horse.” to be given the opportunity and without question over the last two King Of The North and MacDonald will have another chance for big weeks he took advantage of the situation. money when they both return for the Peter Haughton Memorial, with MacDonald appeared to have his hands full in the Pace elimina- trials set for Friday, July 30 and the final hopefully on Hambletonian tion climbing all over the eventual winner Southwind Gendry while Day (August 7) at The Meadowlands. trying to keep Lawless Shadow in the pocket. MacDonald also seems excited about a couple of pacers that haven’t “I got him a little wound up at the start and he’s a big horse that was quite gotten it all figured out just yet but may be ready to turn the hard to settle,” said MacDonald. “The pace was much faster [in the corner. Billy Clyde has been nosed out by Lou’s Pearlman on two final] and he was able to relax.” straight occasions at The Meadowlands after cutting the mile, frus- If MacDonald could have had things differently, he would much trating his driver to some degree. rather have crossed the wire first and left no doubt about the horse “The first week I thought I had lost him and he snuck up the inside,” and the driver. said MacDonald. “Last Saturday I just got outsprinted. I think he’s “I think if Brett (Miller) hadn’t crossed down and pinned me in [Billy Clyde] the kind of horse that needed to get stretched out on the [leaving a clear lane for Lawless Shadow] we would have won the big track and those races will do him good.” race,” said MacDonald. “I had to angle him across the track.” On the 2-year-old front there’s a Huntsville colt named Hunted While The Meadowlands Pace is certainly a victory every driver House that you may not hear much about until later this year or would love to have, for MacDonald the weekend at The Big M began perhaps next year. with a stakes score where his driving skills were fully on display and “I think he’s got a lot of ability,” said MacDonald of the Schnittker the win rather sweet. King Of The North, a colt from the first crop of trainee. “He’s a big horse that’s still growing and trying to figure Walner out of Ray Schnittker’s champion mare Check Me Out, had things out, but he’s got speed and wants to go.” captured the first two legs of the New Jersey Sire Stakes on the front While MacDonald may have a keen eye on where some of his horses end leaving MacDonald to navigate the final. will go, when it comes to his own schedule it’s pretty much up in the “You just don’t want to have to the leave the gate every week with air. a young horse,” MacDonald said. “I saw there was a lot of speed in “I raced Monday [July 19] at Monticello and Tuesday at Saratoga, the race and I just wanted to get away close enough, hoping to get a and I’m leaving it open,” said MacDonald of his options. “Hopefully second-over trip.” I’ll go up to Canada to drive Lawless Shadow again in some races.” That the journey worked out just the way MacDonald envisioned With patience and determination Mark MacDonald has clawed his and that King Of The North would win in a career-best 1:52 4/5 mile way back to compete on the biggest stage in the business. 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