The top Mohawk reinsman returns to PEI in hopes of third consecutive O’Brien Awards Driver of the Year title. 

by Melissa Keith

James MacDonald continues to surprise with the consistency of his dominance in Canada’s top driving colony and Canada’s national driving statistics. The 37-year-old reinsman remained on top of the 2023 Woodbine Mohawk Park and Canadian standings, recording 431 driving wins from 2,046 starts. He finished 10th overall in North American driving wins last year, just ahead of WMP newcomer Tyler Borth (413 wins from 2,440 drives).

MacDonald reached several new milestones last year, and told HRU Wednesday (Jan. 10) that one stood out.

“Probably going over $10-million [Cdn. in purse winnings] for the year,” he said. “I’d never done it before. Last year [2022], I got to $9.9-million, but came up just short. It’s a big number and I’m pretty proud of that.”

He reached the seasonal earnings mark on Dec. 9 at WMP, a rare night when he had just one win, driving Saulsbrook Ian to victory in a Valedictory Series division.

In 2022, MacDonald became the fifth driver in Woodbine–Mohawk harness history to drive 400 winners in one year. He repeated the improbable feat last year, building on a family legacy: Mark MacDonald, his older brother, was previously the most recent driver to achieve that status, driving 404 winners on the WEG circuit in 2006.

There were many other options on James’ highlight reel for 2023, including his third consecutive Lampman Cup as top driver in the Ontario Sires Stakes (47 wins, 518 points), and accepting his second consecutive Keith Waples Driver of the Year title at the 2022 O’Brien Awards.

“Yeah, the third Lampman Cup is amazing,” said the Guelph, ON-based horseman. “I can honestly say I would have never been able to imagine winning one, let alone three straight. Canada has so many great drivers so it’s truly an honor. It just speaks to the great owners and trainers I drive for.”

On Dec. 19, James was also named a finalist for the 2023 Keith Waples Driver of the Year, facing off against regular WMP rival Louis-Philippe Roy, who was voted the Canadian champion driver in 2018 and 2019. The final result will be announced at the 2023 O’Brien Awards banquet, slated for Saturday (Feb. 3, 2024) at the Delta Hotels by Marriott Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, PEI.

“The O’Brien nomination is special because it was always the ultimate goal for me,” said the reigning title-holder. “It’s the most prestigious award a driver can win in Canada and I’m really grateful to be nominated again.”

The fact that the gala will be held in the province where he grew up adds to the excitement for James.

“Yes, it is definitely more special, the awards being at home,” he said. “I have talked to a ton of family and friends that are attending. The MacDonald clan will be huge, cheering on my brother Curtis, our horse Hasty Bid and myself! It’s going to be a really great night.”

His parents, Fred and Gail MacDonald, are editor of the Atlantic Post Calls regional harness racing newspaper and Red Shores Charlottetown track photographer, respectively.

Wednesday (Jan. 10), Cujo Entertainment was named a finalist in the O’Brien Media Excellence Awards’ Outstanding Video, Film, or Broadcast category for its independent coverage of the 98th Hambletonian from The Meadowlands. Producer Curtis MacDonald founded the Guelph, ON, audiovisual company in 2014 and produces the Ontario Twos in Training videos for HRU each spring.

Hasty Bid (3, 1:52.3s; $391,737) is an O’Brien finalist for 3-Year-Old Trotting Colt of the Year. The double OSS Gold leg winner is trained and co-owned by Paige Austin, James MacDonald’s fiancée. He was in the sulky for all four of the My MVP—Sunshinenlollipops gelding’s wins to date.

While MacDonald enjoyed success with O’Brien Award divisional finalists Adare Castle (older trotting mare), Righteous Resolve (3-year-old trotting filly), Willys Home Run (2-year-old trotting filly), Legendary Hanover (2-year-old pacing colt), Its a Love Thing (2-year-old pacing filly), and So Much More (older pacing mare) last year, he said Hasty Bid was “definitely” the standout, from a personal point of view.

“We broke him, trained him down, and raced and owned him at 2 and 3,” James said. “He is the first horse Paige has ever trained, and now being nominated for an O’Brien Award for 3-Year-Old Trotting Colt of the Year is unbelievable. He’s been a very special horse for us both, for sure.”

James began the 2024 season with no loss of momentum, winning six of 10 races last Thursday (Jan. 4) at Mohawk. He said that despite his success, his perspective remained unchanged from previous meets.

“As far as goals for 2024, they will stay the same as they have for the last number of years for me: Try to show up to the track every night with a good attitude and be as consistent as possible,” he said. “If I do those things, I should have another great year. Also, always try and win big races. That’s what means the most to every driver.”

While always competitive on the track, James said he was happy to witness the rise of Tyler Borth in the WMP driving ranks last year, Borth’s first full year dedicated to driving at the Campbellville, ON track instead of The Raceway at Western Fair.

“Tyler is an amazing driver who has been steadily improving year after year,” James said. “Someone told me, when I was starting to do well, it’s always better to gradually improve and slowly gain success because it will make you want it so much more. I wasn’t surprised at all to see him rack up the wins. He has been dominating at the [Ontario] ‘B’ tracks the last few seasons and now he is getting more and more great horses to drive at Mohawk. You can see his confidence growing every day. He’s going to be a hard guy to beat for a lot of years to come.”