by Melissa Keith

The newest name in the Woodbine Mohawk Park drivers’ standings is also the youngest, and one of the few in the current top 20 to currently train as well.

Damian MacLellan was en route to Flamboro Downs on Saturday (Jan. 11) when he found time for an interview. The 22-year-old was also listed to drive his girlfriend Grace Sorrie’s horse Howmac Maximus (p, 5, 1:52.4S $59,392) that night at Mohawk, where they finished second, after this interview.

Back on Dec. 20, it was Howmac Maximus who delivered MacLellan’s first Mohawk victory. The pair bided their time behind pacesetting favorite Batterup Hanover and driver James MacDonald in a Pop-Up Series leg for male pacers, sweeping past down the stretch at odds of 13-1. The 1:52.4 mile was a new lifetime mark for the 6-year-old Articulator—Scirocco Miley Kay gelding.

MacLellan has only been competing since 2022, starting on the right foot by winning his first-ever drive in a pari-mutuel race: May 26, 2022 at Red Shores Charlottetown, with trainer Jennifer Doyle’s tough mare Elm Grove Mistress.

He also won his first pari-mutuel drive in Ontario, Nov. 25, 2022 at The Raceway at Western Fair, driving Stewart McQueen’s gelding Dontdoubtthelakers.

The Inverness, NS, native spent most of 2024 racing in Prince Edward Island, collecting 48 wins from 327 total drives last year. Shortly after Howmac Maximus’ Nov. 5 win at Red Shores Summerside, MacLellan and Sorrie (the sister of driver Austin Sorrie) made plans to revisit Ontario, where they had worked in the recent past.

“About a year ago, me and my girlfriend were up in Ontario, and we decided to go home for the summer and try and build up a stable of our own, which we did,” said MacLellan.

“We had a couple of horses, and we were helping out her stepmom at the time, Tammy Collings. We had about 10, 12 horses between the two barns that we were all helping each other out with. We had a good summer, you know. We had fun. We always said that we would come back up to Ontario, whether just for the winter or permanently, you know what I mean? We don’t have any set plans. We just play it by ear, so we decided to come back up.”

MacLellan said that he, Grace, and Howmac Maximus left PEI for Ontario “the second week of November, and he was the only horse we brought with us.” The gelding was a natural choice to bring along.

“He raced good down east all summer,” said MacLellan. “He paced [1]:54-[1]:55 consistently down there [in PEI], so we thought we can come up here and race at Flamboro and London all winter.”

Getting a maiden Mohawk win together was not in the original plans. Howmac Maximus had never raced on anything bigger than a half-mile track.

“We got up there [to Ontario] and we gave him a couple of weeks off from shipping up, then we started jogging him back,” said MacLellan. “The Pop-Up Series became available and he fit it, so we decided to try it and he raced really good.”

Howmac Maximus finished fourth in the Pop-Up Series opening leg Dec. 13; came back with a win Dec. 20; and has finished second in three subsequent starts at Mohawk, including the Dec. 27 Pop-Up Series final.

“A week before the series started, we took him to Mohawk and we schooled him,” said MacLellan, who trains and drives Howmac Maximus. “I was really happy with the way he schooled. He was strong, he paced right through the wire. His first start, I wasn’t expecting much, because I knew we still had to get some conditioning back from being off for 5-6 weeks.

“Going from racing on a half your whole life to going to the big track, it takes horses a start or two to adjust to that long stretch, you know. I didn’t expect much, that first start. I more or less wanted to not abuse him, not hurt him, and hopefully get some money, and he raced really good. He was very strong heading to the wire, and his second start [at Mohawk], he drew good again on the gate in a pretty competitive class.”

MacLellan said he “still gets chills” every time he wins a race, but Howmac Maximus’ victory will always be special to him.

“I kind of knew he could do it, but at the same time, halfway down the lane, when you’re 200-300 feet from the wire and you’re still in front, it kind of hits you, like, ‘Oh, I’m actually going to win a race at Mohawk,’” said MacLellan.

Recently celebrating his 22nd birthday, MacLellan said he knew it would take hard work to reach the level of visibility he would like as a potential catch driver at Mohawk.

“I went back to PEI [in 2024] to kind of reset myself, to regain my confidence and just try and get my name out there, because even though I was driving here and there when I was up here in Ontario the last time, I wasn’t driving as much as I’d like to,” he told HRU. “I figured if I went back home, I’d try to get my name on the program a lot and hopefully people would see me and start listing me again.

“The overall goal, probably for this year, would be to try and have the same year as I did last year, maybe a little bit better, with more wins, more money… It’s hard to break in there [at Mohawk]. There’s some really, really talented drivers there, and not too many spots open there, and of course, when there are spots open there, you’ve got your top ‘B’ track drivers that go there and fill in those spots.”

MacLellan works full-time for trainer Robert Kyle Fellows now, as he has in the not-too-distant past, and frequently schools and qualifies horses from that barn at Mohawk. Grace also works at Fellows’ Rockwood, ON training center, where Howmac Maximus is currently stabled.

Driving horses to the track as well as driving the horses themselves, the young trainer/driver with the one-horse stable said that long days and nights are just part of the game: “If you want to do good, you have to put in the time.”

He recalled learning from mentors like his late father, Inverness horse owner Donald “Piper” MacLellan; his older brother, Donald; horseman Shelby Miller, who first let him sit behind a horse at Inverness Raceway; 2024 Atlantic Regional Driving Champion Redmond Doucet, Jr.; and Austin Sorrie, whom he speaks with regularly at Mohawk and the “B” tracks.

While acknowledging the depth of talent among Maritime drivers, Damian said that proving himself in Ontario is a bigger challenge.

“The only way people know you is if you just show up,” he said. “Even if you’re not listed on anything, try and be at the track as much as you can… because if people don’t know who you are, they’re not going to list you.

“The ‘B’ tracks are your stepping stone. Rob [Fellows] has been really good. He’s been listing me on a majority of his ‘B’ track horses and we’ve had some luck. I’ve had a good run since we’ve come back up, and I hope things keep going in that direction.”

Thanks to Howmac Maximus, Damian has already broken the ice at Canada’s top track.

“That was pretty cool,” he said, looking back at the Pop-Up Series upset. “There are not too many times you get to go by James MacDonald in the lane. I always wanted to drive at Mohawk, and never had a doubt that we could do it, but you try to set your goals realistically.”

With a win (Ava Seelster), place (23-1 shot Northern Belle) and an off-the-board finish in his three drives at Flamboro Sunday (Jan. 12), it’s very realistic to regard Damian as an emerging talent to watch this season.