James MacDonald returns to Mohawk winner’s circle after second World Driving Championship title
by Melissa Keith
As November draws to a close, James MacDonald can once again be found at Woodbine Mohawk Park, leading Canadian drivers by purses won this year ($7,508,602 Canadian as of Nov. 28). He is second in the nation in 2025 by driving wins, with 340 from 1,689 drives. Only Austin Sorrie has more, with 369 wins from 1,939 drives, primarily at Flamboro Downs and The Raceway at Western Fair.
Earlier this month, MacDonald added a second World Driving Championship title to his lengthy list of accomplishments. After a Nov. 1 welcome reception in Christchurch, the tournament kicked off Sunday (Nov. 2) at South Bay Racecourse in Kaikoura, New Zealand, which the Canadian representative called “one of the most beautiful tracks on planet Earth.”
At the opening night gathering at Christchurch’s Commodore Hotel, MacDonald told Harness Racing New Zealand (HRNZ) that the pressure that accompanied his 2017 World Driving Championship win in Canada had been lifted from his shoulders: “It’s exciting… In 2017, I felt like a bit of an outsider. Now I’m older and a little more used to stuff like this and I’m going to enjoy it and have a good time.”
A $55,000 (U.S.) prize pool was an added incentive, with $25,000 (U.S.) going to the 2025 world champion driver.
He won his first New Zealand drive (not part of the tournament), piloting 5-year-old Art Major mare Judine to victory in the 1,900-meter Precut Construction Mobile Pace for trainers Robert and Jenna Dunn.
MacDonald said his first tournament drives at Kaikoura weren’t “quite as hot a start as [he] would’ve liked,” with trotting gelding Switch On jumping it off in the Lion NZ World Driving Championship heat 1, followed by “a big rally to be third” after a break in WDC heat 2, the Vic and Irene Smith Memorial, by 6-year-old Creatine mare Holly Highlander.
After a fourth-place finish in the Floorpride Rangoria WDC heat 3 with 3-year-old Sweet Lou gelding Caloriefree, MacDonald said that he “chipped away and got a few points,” ending up sixth with 17 points, but “unfortunately today wasn’t [his] day-it was all Gary Hall.” The Australian representative had two wins and a place on the opening day card.
Kaikoura Cup Day was Monday (Nov. 3).
“They were lined up 10-deep at the fence to see it,” MacDonald said in his Standardbred Canada video blog about the event. “I had a good day, with a couple of second-place finishes” in the two WDC races on the card. He drove 4-year-old Always B Miki gelding JT Boe to a place result in the Donegal House WDC heat 4, then closed for place with 5-year-old Art Major mare Major Happy in the Kaikoura ITM WDC heat 5. At the end of Day 2, the Canadian reinsman had advanced into second (41 points), behind only Gary Hall, Jr. (54 points).
WDC leg 3 was at Cambridge Raceway on Nov. 5. MacDonald won the first tournament race, the 1,700-meter Dunstan Horsefeeds WDC heat 6, with 3-year-old Captain Crunch gelding Captains Secret.
“I was able to make front early, then I re-moved back to the lead, and the rest was history,” he told followers on his SC video blog entry, noting that there were several 2,200-meter races requiring “two full laps on a five-eighth mile track… a little different style for us North Americans.”
MacDonald finished fourth with Trifolium in the 2,200-meter Thames Harness Racing WDC heat 7.
“I jumped up on a trotter from the 4-hole, and he floated out. He made a couple of breaks in a row, so I was trying to be a little careful,” he said of the drive, which involved “a little different style racing… being shoved three-, four-wide, which is a hundred percent legal here.”
The Canadian driver won the 2,200-meter A.K. Kevin Holmes Memorial WDC heat 8 with 4-year-old Downbytheseaside gelding Mick Konstantin, crediting good draws “and a lot of nice horses.” In leg 4, MacDonald finished “a hard-closing second” by a nose with Sans Au Revoir, a 7-year-old Love You mare, in the 2,200-meter IRT. Your Horse. Our Passion. WDC heat 9.
The day’s final competition race saw him finish sixth with 5-year-old American Ideal gelding Commander Lincoln in the 2,200-meter Thames Harness Racing WDC heat 10. MacDonald reached the top of the podium, however, ending leg 3 with 98 total points to Gary Hall, Jr.’s 85.
Despite challenging draws on WDC Day 4, contested at Addington Raceway on Nov. 7, MacDonald maintained his advantage. He steered 4-year-old Sportswriter mare Sofia Rose to a seventh-place finish in the 1,980-meter VIP Trade World WDC heat 11, the first 2025 tournament race won by New Zealand representative Blair Orange, driving Always A Menace.
Calling Addington “one of the most unique-shaped tracks I’ve ever seen” on his SC blog report, MacDonald won his next drive of the day, the 1,980-meter Aldebaran Park WDC heat 12, with 9-year-old Peak mare Waihemo Hannah.
“It was exciting to get a win at Addington,” he said, although he was fifth with Betterwithbling in the 2,600-meter Stevie & Maree with Harcourts Hornby in WDC heat 13 and ninth with Grettymac in heat 14, the Commodore Hotel Supporting WDC25 Trot. After an eighth-place result with Blackjack in the Check Out Harnesslink WDC25 heat 15, MacDonald finished eighth with 2-year-old Bettors Delight filly River in a non-tournament race to end the day. His lead over Gary Hall, Jr. was small, but still intact, with 130 to 121 points respectively.
WDC leg 5 was at Central Southland Raceway in Winton on Nov. 9. Winless in his four drives, MacDonald nonetheless maintained his lead, picking up two place finishes: 9-year-old Live Or Die mare Sherwood Maggie in the 1,609-meter Night ‘N Day Winton WDC heat 17, and 5-year-old Majestic Son gelding Xerion in the 1,609-meter SBSR/Diamond Creek Farm WDC heat 18. He was also fourth in heat 19, driving 8-year-old A Rocknroll Dance mare Insarchatwist in the 1,609-meter Ultra-Scan Western Southland Pace.
Ending the second-last leg of the championship with a 164-point total, MacDonald held off Hall, Jr., who remained in second with 149 points.
“It’s a long way from over,” said the leader.
The final 2025 WDC leg was Nov. 11 at Addington Raceway. Finishing seventh with Alotoftrouble in heat 20, the 2,600-meter Mitre 10 Trot, might have seemed ominous, but the lone WDC race on New Zealand Cup Day was enough to secure MacDonald his second WDC title, the sixth won by a Canadian reinsman since the tournament was introduced in 1970. Canadian Hervé Filion won the inaugural championship.
MacDonald’s 168 points kept him ahead of runner-up Hall, Jr. (151 points) and The Netherlands’ Jaap van Rijn (third with 141 points).
In a Mohawk paddock interview on Nov. 22, MacDonald looked back on the experience.
“We left on Wednesday, I believe Oct. 29, and it takes a good two days in transit to get there,” he told HRU. “So, we were there Friday, and I believe it didn’t start ‘til Sunday, so we had a couple of days just to kind of settle in and get to meet everyone, and kind of see what we were dealing with.”
Jet lag wasn’t a factor on the trip from Canada to New Zealand.
“On the way down, it was fine,” said the 2025 WDC champ. “You know, we were so excited to get there and so much going on that we didn’t really feel it at all. I slept a little lightly a few nights. The way back was a little rough, like a few bad nights last week… I was a bit of a zombie, but I’m back fine now. Good to go.”
The 2025 tournament was different from that of his first title, won in Canada in 2017.
“Obviously I’ve known [U.S. representative] Brett Beckwith, and I met the German driver Michael Nimczyk before; I competed in 2019 against him,” said MacDonald. “But the rest were all new.”
Speaking in the chilly Mohawk paddock before his first drive last Saturday night, it was easy for MacDonald to get a little nostalgic about New Zealand.
“At Kaikoura, they only have a two-day meet all year,” he said. “It’s just those two days, Sunday-Monday, but it’s kind of like a Little Brown Jug feel, by the mountains and the ocean. It’s a stunning track. The views were second to none.”
Southern Hemisphere seasonal temperatures had not yet peaked at the time of the WDC.
“It was great to go over there at this time of year,” said MacDonald. “It was just starting to get hot. Most days were 20 [degrees Celsius or 68 degrees Fahrenheit] or close to 20, so it was a nice change from over here.”
While uncertain of the algorithm involved in draws for the WDC drives, MacDonald said there was “a lot of luck” involved in winning his second title.
Playing the long game was what brought MacDonald to the top of the driving world once again. On the first day, he blamed bad luck, not his horses or his own ability, for the tough start.
“I’ve raced in those events lots, so I know not to get too down early, and just kind of feel it out,” said MacDonald. “You don’t need to hit the panic button until about 14 or 15 races in. So, I wasn’t too worried about it.”
And with those parting words, he left the paddock with pacer Freight Days A Week, enroute to his next win, despite a late break.
