Golden Eye: Mike MacDonald

By Nicholas Oakes

It’s 2 am in La Belle Province.

Stepping off his late-night flight, trainer Mark Ford is thinking it’s time to find a hotel. But to his surprise, longtime friend Mike MacDonald is waiting for him, and will have no part of this hotel talk. MacDonald and his wife, Judy, insist on treating  Ford to some old-fashioned maritime hospitality (albeit in Montreal).

It wasn’t long before Ford realized this was the norm with MacDonald – his hospitality is notorious.
“Not just me but he would drag anyone home,” Ford – of Gallo Blue Chip fame – says. “Mike would come busting through the door at 2:30 a.m. and yell ‘Judy,’ then there would be a four course dinner on the table, then a full breakfast the next day at 7:00. I’ve never been to Montreal where I haven’t stayed with Mike and Judy.”
But this Maritime native, kind as he may be, is far more than a one trick pony. He’s banked 1,275 wins and $8,019,060 as a trainer, and 2.294 wins and $13,589,165 as a driver, throughout an illustrious career across Canada and the United States.
MacDonald, 61, grew up in Charlottetown, P.E.I., and found himself spending a great deal of time with Claude O’Brien (brother to the legendary Joe O’Brien) and it got him interested in racing.
For almost 40 years, MacDonald campaigned his stable from Hippodrome De Montreal (formerly Blue Bonnets) but it wasn’t the happiest of events that took him there.
While in his mid-teens on the island, MacDonald was in a hockey game that got ugly. When all was said and done, he found himself spending a night in jail to cool off. That was the end of MacDonald on P.E.I.
“I just kind of got disgusted with myself and said ‘Geez I have to go somewhere else.’”
That ‘somewhere’ was to Montreal to work for fellow Islander James ‘Roach’ MacGregor as he packed his bags the next day and started hitchhiking.
In Montreal he married Judy in 1973 and opened a public stable, but is quick to credit Maritimers for his success.
“I didn’t really make myself successful, I had a lot of good horses from home,” MacDonald says modestly.
Some of his success he’s quick to credit to longtime employees Jamie Smith and Joey Shea (currently the trainer of Keep It Real).
“To have two guys like that at the same time was unbelievable,” Judy says.
Mike Campbell has been a lifelong friend of MacDonald and says the environment they grew up in is what made MacDonald the horseman he is.
“He worked for some of the best horsemen that ever lived,” Campbell says. “Those old boys that were around the Island when we were kids growing up, if they thought you were serious about your trade, they would help you and tell you what was right and what was wrong. Those fellas around there when were kids were the best. Any one of them could’ve went anywhere and excelled because they were all top notch horsemen.”
He says MacDonald could see in horses what most people couldn’t.
“A lot of times over the years he took horses that people tried to race and couldn’t do any good with them and take the hopples off them or do something like that.”
Through it all though, MacDonald remained honest, Campbell says.
“He’s never taken a horse for anybody and kept it when it wasn’t doing any good,” Campbell says. “If the horse wasn’t doing he would call you up and say ‘I have this horse and when he gets a little better, you know, we’ll try him again.’ That’s just the way he was. He was never the kind to take advantage of somebody, he used everybody fair and square I always thought.”
It would be the Gold Cup & Saucer back home on P.E.I. that would prove to be where MacDonald shined brightest.
His first win came in 1975 aboard Ventall Rainbow, then he came back to win it again in 1977 with the same horse.
In 1984, Mike took home Pearl’s Falcon but had all week to endure the banter of good friend George Canning – who owned Winner’s Accolade that was also in the Gold Cup & Saucer final. Canning was adamant that his horse would be in the winner’s circle at the end of the week.
In the final, Mike was on top by four lengths with Pearls Falcon halfway down the stretch, then turned around in the bike to look at Winner’s Accolade while waving his arm forward and yelling “Come on George. Get going George.”
“It was bad,” Judy remembers. “It was really bad sportsmanship but Mike just couldn’t help himself.”
Mike and George laughed it off after the race and in 1985, George made a decision.
“The next year George said (to Mike) ‘I can’t beat ya so I might as well join ya.’”
That year Mike and Winner’s Accolade scorched the Charlottetown oval in 1:57.3 while winning the final.
Back home in Montreal, owner George Henderson approached Mike looking for a good race horse. After paying $200,000 for Bomb Rickles and watching him destroy the Quebec City track record and set a Canadian record of 1:55 over a half-mile track, Henderson figured he got his money’s worth but wanted a little more.
“Well, I might as well get a good trotter now,” Henderson told Mike.
Mike found one and he and Judy dropped by Henderson’s business office and told him they found a horse.
“Ok, go down to my bank manager and get a cheque,” was all he said.
The price tag on the horse (Vizzi Hanover) was $140,000 and Henderson didn’t even ask for the horse’s name.
In 1995, Mike was thinking about not taking a horse for the Gold Cup but his daughter Laura – who was 12 at the time – was certain Sandy Hanover should make the trip. After drawing into the final and giving Mike his fifth Gold Cup & Saucer driving win (more than any other driver), it appears Laura was right.
All told, between 1973 and 2007 Mike would race in the Gold Cup final 29 times. Many people would go on to dub Mike ‘Mr. Gold Cup & Saucer’ but Mike doesn’t consider himself that.
“No, no, there has been a lot of people race in the Gold Cup & Saucer,” Mike says.
Recently, Mike has seen some talented drivers pass through his barn, most notably Mark and Anthony MacDonald, who both worked for Mike in their teens.
“He made me,” Anthony says of Mike. “He made Mark, he would make something out of anybody who had anything to do with him. I don’t think you could walk around the world and find a guy like Mike MacDonald.”
“He would do anything for anyone. It wouldn’t matter if you just had a fight with him last night and you needed a set of harness because you didn’t have one. If you asked, the shiniest set of harness would be hanging on your crossties the next morning.”
Mark says Mike was a teacher to him, and considering Mark’s numerous Canadian dash winning titles, he must’ve taught something right.
“Mike taught me a lot about racing, and about everything really,” Mark says. “He definitely taught me a lot about training when I opened my own stable. He always presents himself good too, he’s got a lot of class.”
Presentation was something Mike had to pound into Mark the first day the youngster was set to go for his qualifying drives. Mark was driving two for Mike and rushed to the paddock after getting the barn work done, but still had his sneakers on. As soon as Mike saw Mark, he swiftly sent him back to the barn to put driving boots on.
The biggest part was Mike showed Mark he could make it in the business.
“He gave me a lot of confidence in myself. That’s something I didn’t have when I started working for him.”
Mark doesn’t know how exactly how Mike did it.
“It’s just the way Mike is,” Mark says. “If you were working for him and you did a good job he’d tell you.”
Anthony can’t help but agree.
“Whether you liked him or whether you hated him, if you knew Mike MacDonald you would learn something about harness racing.”
Even Mark Ford credits MacDonald for getting him started.
“I was 22-23 at the time and he was always very good to me,” Ford says. “When I was just getting started in New York he was just one of those guys that was always around. He helped me quite a bit, he helped me get started, raced a few horses for me, and was there for me when I really needed it. I’m very thankful to him for what he did for me to get me started.”
MacDonald has now moved back to P.E.I. to retire due to the state of racing in Quebec.
“Montreal was dead, it was gone,” Judy says, “There was nothing there for us.”
Now Mike is just enjoying the East Coast breeze and thinking back on a career most would only dream of having.

The Ladies man

By Nicholas Oakes

It was early August 2006 and everyone thought the Dream Maker series final was over Lilsharkshooter’s head, but the little horse had a bit more in the tank. The Cams Card Shark pacer – with driver Luc Ouellette – rallied from last to open up by three lengths to win the $53,400 final in 1:54.1, much to the surprise of owner Jerry Renkers – of Surrey, B.C.’s Lil Dude Ranch.
“We were in shock because things were looking pretty gruesome coming around the last turn,” Renkers says. “It was really unbelievable how fast he went at the end. Everyone was in shock, even the announcer.”
Even though a $2 win ticket paid $49.50 Lilsharkshooter wasn’t shocked, he was just showing off for the ladies.
Current trainer Scott Knight has seen first hand the effect women have on the little horse, in the form of one of his grooms.
“He’s kind of a funny horse because he loves women. Morgan Devlim does everything to him. She’s grooms him, jogs him, and trains him. The only thing I do is drive him. He loves her.”
Despite this, the pacer has still had one thing allude him, a win in the Open class at Fraser Downs, but Knight has a plan.
“If I could get a lady driver then maybe that is the key to winning the open with him,” he laughs.
Lilsharkshooter started his career in Ontario at Mohawk raceway under trainer Chad Schmiedge where he raced in the consolation of the Metro Stake. In his three-year-old campaign – with conditioner Jeff Stone – he won an elimination of the Western Canadian Pacing Derby at Northlands Park and raced in a heat of the Confederation Cup at Flamboro Downs.
He was in a lot of the big dances but luck was never on his side.
“He started off really good but then things kind of went south,” Renkers says. “I figured he’d be a top stake horse. He did ok, but he didn’t meet my expectations.”
Despite it all, Lilsharkshooter has managed to bank over $226,000 and take a mark of 1:52.1 at Woodbine, earning him the right to be spoiled a little.
“He loves black licorice,” Knight explains. “We have a tub of it and when I first got him he would just kind of dip in and take one at a time, and now you can’t get it near him or he’s going to take the whole thing, he just pigs right out on it.”
One day the management at Fraser Downs wanted to show off some race horses to the public so Lilsharkshooter made the trip to see his adoring fans..
“He was really good. He loved the attention,” Knight remembers but recalls the pacer getting a touch hungry during the visit.
“He ate all their flowers! But only the yellow ones,” he laughs. “I had to stand between him and the grandstand but he still ate about four big yellow ones. I felt bad for the guys that worked their because they had to plant all new flowers.”
Renkers all ready has some tentative plans for Lilsharkshooter’s future.
“If he stays sound we would like to race him two or three more years, then do some breeding.”

Nick Steward

By Nicholas Oakes

When Robert Shepherd would go to drive at tracks throughout Southwestern Ontario, he would always see a kid with a blue and white suit warming up horses. Now when he look over at the other drivers behind the gate he sees that same person lining up with him, and putting up numbers to prove he deserves to be there.
Nicholas Steward is his name, and at 18-years-old he’s showing the world that driving horses is his game.
Steward lives in London, Ont., and started around horses at eight-year-old with his grandfather – Larry Fitzsimmons. He jogged his first horse – Keep On Laughing – when he was 10, and this started dreams of becoming a driver..
Then in his early teens he started warming up horses for his grandfather’s stable, then things took off.
“I just started with grandpa and then it became wintertime and people didn’t want to do it because it was cold,” Steward recalls.
Then Steward was certain driving horses was going to be his future.
“I wanted him to go to school but he wouldn’t,” Fitzsimmons – a winner of over $5.6 million training – says of his grandson. “He had in his mind he wanted to be a driver. He’s holding up his end of the bargain, he’s doing good for himself.”
Good is definitely being modest, as in his first four months driving Steward recorded 51 wins and banked $400,000 in purses. But before all that was day one, and Steward’s nerves were just fair.
“But I had the seven hole so it wasn’t too bad. I drove three that night and I didn’t do very good,” Steward says honestly.
His first win was at Western Fair Raceway with Rhianne – trained by his stepfather Ray Bunn.
“I just sat in the two hole and got lucky,” Steward remembers. “I pulled out early too, I wouldn’t do that anymore.”
It was a great feeling to be in the winner’s circle, Steward says.
“It was good hearing Frank Salive, he kind of praises you up and gives good remarks about your drive.”
In his short time, Steward has recorded three win performances on two occasions – at Dresden Raceway and Hiawatha Horse Park.
“It’s always a thrill to win a race. You learn from all the older guys out there and you learn from your mistakes too.”
“He’s learning,” Shepherd comments, “he’s getting better all the time. He can carry (the horses he drives) along a long way.”
A normal summer week for Steward would see him spending Monday night at Grand River, Tuesday afternoon at Woodstock then back at Grand River at night, Wednesday at Dresden, Thursday at Hiawatha Horse Park, Friday night at Grand River, Saturday afternoon at Woodstock then the night at Hiawatha Horse Park, and Sunday afternoon action at Clinton.
With that hectic schedule, plus jogging for his grandfather in the morning what does he do with his small amount of spare time?
“Sleep, I like to sleep,” Steward laughs.
“Everybody likes him, he’s a likeable kid,” Fitzsimmons says. ” He’s got a nice smile.”

Prairie pride

By Nicholas Oakes

Darryl Mason scrolls down the Standardbred Canada results page to see that his home bred Friendly Farmer has yet again beat a field of conditioned pacers at Woodbine, this time in 1:53.1. This is what makes it all worth it for him, although he wishes there was that same kind of opportunity home in Manitoba.
But with only 22 race dates a year in the prairie province, he has to keep plugging away doing what he loves: breeding and racing horses.
Mason grew up – and still lives – in Killarney, Manitoba. His family was involved in racing which prompted him to get his driver’s license.
“I liked driving right from the start,” Mason says. “It was thrilling to get out there and drive your own horses instead of standing at the sidelines and watch someone else do it all the time.”
It was just pure fun for Mason with little stress involved.
“I was young then and didn’t have too many people relying on me.”
Now – over twenty years later – he does have people relying in him, with three children and his wife Sherri. Together they operate a massive breeding operation with seven stallions and 106 broodmares. Not to mention the 14 horses that are racing on the side.
Sherri doesn’t mind working with her husband everyday one bit.
“We get along pretty good,” she says. “Sometimes we have differences of opinion but we get along. You have to when you live together and work together.”
The biggest inspiration in Darryl’s life in career is hands down his wife, he says.
“She’s always been there to encourage me and support the decisions that I make.”
Friendly Farmer was a definite highlight of their careers. The Mason’s bred the horse and shared ownership of him with Donald Anness.
“He was a nice horse right from day one,” Darryl says.
And what was so nice about Friendly Farmer?
“He could beat everybody,” he laughs. “He knew what to do as soon as he went behind the gate the first time. He was a natural.”
“We owned the sire, we owned the mother, and we owned the mother’s sire,” Darryl explains. “We were always proud of that horse because he was a true home bred.”
In his spare time in the winter, Darryl likes to curl and snowmobile but in the summer it’s racing horses – which can have it’s strange and comical moments.
Post parading in a race in Portage La Prairie Darryl’s horse locked on a head pole and stopped dead still in front of the grandstand. Then deciding that he didn’t like the head pole, he reared straight up in the air and landed on top of the outside fence.
“There I was, stuck there,” Darryl remembers.
Once help came and they got the bike off the horse, he jumped all the way over the fence.
“Then there was no way to get him out of the grandstand area. We had to wait for someone to come and bring a key to unlock the gate.”
Earlier that same day, the horse got his halter off and spun around on the crossties, got his halter off, and got onto the golf course with his harness still on.
“He was having a bad day,” Darryl laughs.

The little horse that could

By Nicholas Oakes

It was driver’s challenge day in Newfoundland and Todd Trites was thinking he didn’t come all the way from Fredericton, New Brunswick just sit at the back of the pack all day.

“If they’ve got four feet and a heartbeat, I’m going, boys,” grinned Jody Jamieson at the group of drivers, so Trites knew he would have to roll out hard to make front with Machthemoment from post five. But it was The Smileforme Memorial Pace (named in honour of the horse who was arguably the best in the Atlantic province before his untimely death) and this tiny son of Mach Three was ready to shine.

Machthemoment busted out off the gate and was stung to the quarter in 28 by arch-rival Whitesand Dimples (driven by Brad Forward), before he cleared to the lead and kept on trucking to a 2:00.3, two-length victory — his eighth of the year. “He’s a real nice horse,” Trites said afterward. “He’s not big but he can motor —  just a nice, handy little half-mile horse.”

Standing in the winner’s circle, it was apparent. The torch had been passed and Newfoundland racing now belonged to the Machthemoment. But despite the excitement, owner Jeanette Newell was probably thinking not about the present moment, but about the autumn previous — a time when she would’ve laughed if someone told her she’d soon have the top horse on the rock.

———

Jeanette grew up an hour outside of St. John’s in North River, Newfoundland and her father — Gerard Newell — always dabbled in horses. But horses drifted off the radar for Jeanette as she moved to Ontario out of high school, and then eventually back to Newfoundland. “I came home nine years ago but worked all the time and on the weekends I was just enjoying being home,” she admits. “Then dad bought Mcoddie so I went to the track to see her race and fell right back in love with it.

“Dad was always bragging, and I’ll admit Mcoddie was pretty good last year,” Jeanette adds. “He was just joking around and he said ‘too bad you don’t have one that can beat mine.’

“‘Oh yeah?’ I said. ‘You just wait and see.’”

So the Newells logged onto TrackIT, searching for a horse; they found one they liked, and sent good friend Rod Forward on a hunt for the owners. Meanwhile, in Ontario, Machthemoment had just over $53,000 made and a mark of 1:56.3 at Flamboro while travelling through the barns of trainer Brian MacInnis, then owner Brett Riley at Kawartha Downs.

Riley thought the horse was better than he showed, as in 15 starts he had mixed results. When the phone call from Newfoundland came, Machthemoment was considered sold on the spot. “I needed a bit of money at the time and he was one of the horses that wasn’t getting in,” Riley recalls. “If things had been different I never would have sold him. I told them when they bought him, he just wasn’t suiting what I needed at the time, but I really like the horse.”

The trainer especially liked his personality. “He’s a smart little horse, always bright-looking. Just the kind of horse that has some personality and had some brains to him. He’s one of those horses that will give you all he got.”

Machthemoment’s racing future is a long one, Riley predicts. “He’ll be a horse that I could see racing until he’s 14. Clean-legged little fella and he’s got the body style that should hold up to race. He’s a gritty little bugger. He’s not a tall horse but he’s compact. I made sure they knew that before they bought him. I didn’t want him landing out there and them saying ‘What did we buy? A little runt?’”

It’s good to see they’re having lots of fun with him, he adds. “There are a couple of fellas that come around my barn and we’re always saying ‘did you see how that Machthemoment did?’ We get a great kick out of seeing him doing so good.”

Trucker Ron Gass was hired to pick the horse up in Ontario, and the transaction showed just how anxious Jeanette was to get everything done.”You’ve got to get me Ronnie Gass’s address, I have to pay him!” an anxious Jeanette said to Forward one day last fall.

“Relax, Ronnie is good,” Forward assured her. “You don’t even have the horse picked up yet!”

 

———–

Rod Forward met Gerard Newell at the track in St. John’s several years back and the first time Forward drove a horse for him, the results were less than stellar. “That wasn’t a very good experience,” Forward admits. “It was the last time that horse raced. He made a nasty break at the half but it wasn’t too bad, so I finished the mile. When he went to pull up, though, he could hardly walk.”

The horse broke a coffin bone but the friendship between the two Newfoundlanders continued. In 2008, Gerard asked Forward to look at a mare on a trip to Inverness. “If she looks all right, buy her,” Gerard told Forward as he handed over the money. Forward saw Mcoddie and liked her, so he did as he was told — he bought her, and trucked her to Newfoundland.

It was December of the same year that Machthemoment joined the mare at the Newells’ North River farm, where the pair jogs their horses around a small one-eighth mile track. The two horses were trained down and after a qualifier in 2:06, Machthemoment was entered in the ‘C’ Class at St. John’s.

“I was thinking: ‘C’ Class, okay, let’s see what he can do,'” Jeanette recalls. “He went out in that C Class and made it look easy in 2:04.2. I was floored.”

The next week was the race they’d all been waiting for, as Mcoddie and Machthemoment drew in together.

Jeanette had her plan set and explained it to Forward. “I already told dad… if they’re in together I don’t care who I beat, as long as I beat your horse.”

And as for who was driving who, Jeanette had an answer for that too. “You’re driving my horse and I don’t care who drives his,” Forward recalls her saying with a chuckle.

“They’re there to have a bit of fun,” he shrugs. “If you can’t have some fun what’s the sense of being in it?”

Forward’s brother Rob drove Mcoddie, but Machthemoment put in another impressive performance, beating the mare — who wound up third.When Jeanette saw her father after the race she put her hands up in the air in victory but he just turned around and walked away. Despite the show he puts on, though, Gerard finds it all fun for him and his daughter. “She was happy,” he grins. “He’s a hard little horse to beat.”

He’s the first to admit he’s just content to be involved. “It’s a nice sport to be in. There’s not a lot of money in Newfoundland but it’s a nice way to spend a Sunday evening.”

————

Machthemoment would go on to win in 2:00.3, defeating the well-known Whitesand Dimples.

“He circled Whitesand Dimples before she even knew he was passing,” laughs Forward. “He’s quick footed. He’s a real nice rig to drive. He’s a little horse on the track but if someone tries to pass him, he’ll give it his all.”

Clearly he’s learned his lesson. When the gelding first arrived, Forward definitely didn’t expect to see that kind of speed out him. “I thought he’d go in 2:02-2:03. I looked at his lines and two starts before he won in 1:57, but that’s Georgian Downs, not Newfoundland! So I figured you could tack on five extra seconds, easy.”

Although Machthemoment has been getting all the limelight, Forward still has a soft spot for his stablemate, too. “She’s lazy,” grins Forward, “but she can finish if you can keep her up close and keep her awake.”

In the end, though, it’s the owners that make it so enjoyable to drive these two, says Forward. “They’re easy going people. I don’t have any problems with them. They just want to come in and see the races.”

And the friendship is mutual. “He’s a fine gentleman and a fine man to talk to,” smiles Gerard. “I think he’d get along with the devil, that man.”

As for the future of Machthemoment, (as usual) Jeanette has it all laid out — and she doesn’t plan on parting with him. Ever. “He’s in his last master’s hands now,” she insists. “He’ll race as long as he can then he`ll be home until he can`t be there anymore. Nobody else will ever have him, he’s excellent.”

Gerard has some plans for his own filly, as Mcoddie is just returning from a sick break. “I’m gonna wait and get her good,” Gerard says, “then maybe give Machthemoment another run.”

So at least for the Newells (and for some other fans on the rock) Machthemoment has been living up to his name — he’s definitely been giving them some good times to remember.

‘Till racing do we part

By Nicholas Oakes

Darla MacEachern was running up the Charlottetown backstretch to get to her horse Gentle Sam, who had pulled up just before the three-quarter pole and was standing on three-legs.
“Darla it’s not good. I think he broke his leg,” driver Walter Cheverie told her.
Gentle Sam had to be put down and even though she only had the horse for a month she couldn’t bear to watch.
“I was too upset,” she recalls, “but I did cut off a braid of his hair and I still have it. It was a pretty sad night.”
That was a definite bump in the road and made harder because she lost another horse (Donmar H) the year before when he broke a bone during a race in Summerside but it hasn’t been the norm for Darla.
She grew up in Tyne Valley in western P.E.I., with her father Duane who trains a small stable.
She remembers helping her father at just five-years old and getting a little too close to some of the horses.
“Sometimes dad would catch me underneath them brushing them off,” she grins.
When she was 12, William Companion (a friend of her father’s) had Woodbine Free-for-aller Scarlet And Gold on P.E.I., for the Gold Cup & Saucer and one day she got to jog him. Companion said the horse would jog fine as long as he was alone on the track but unluckily for Darla a horse came out onto the track to train, and Scarlet And Gold decided to do a training trip of his own the wrong way of the track.
“I thought I was going to die,” Darla remembers. “He was trying to train with them.”
She’s now 21 and works as a receptionist for a family doctor in Summerside, P.E.I.
“(I like) the interaction with the people,” Darla says. “They’re sick and you’re helping people and hopefully they’re better when they leave.”
Although she likes dealing with people, she loves dealing with horses and her favourite, hands down, is Invitational pacer Porthill Alf (1:53.1, 48 wins, $132,000)- trained by her father.
“I like watching him race because he’s always there. He can leave and he can finish.”
But there are some things not to like about the son of Largo.
“His mood swings. But if you have treats he’s always in a good mood,” she laughs. “He’s kicked me a few times but we’re good now.”
Lately, Darla has tried her hand driving on the P.E.I. matinee circuit, where she won her first race with Stagecoachgambler at her home track of Tyne Valley.
“It was exciting. I like the adrenaline rush behind the gate and during the race.”
When it comes to Darla and how much she loves horse racing you just have to look at her schedule next summer.
“I’m getting married in July, but it’s on a Friday so I can go to the races Saturday.”
But is there any chance of her honeymoon starting Saturday?
“Depends what’s racing,” she grins.
For her Fiancé Justin’s sake, he better hope Porthill Alf isn’t in to race with a good class and an inside post, because it means his wife won’t miss it for the world.

Harold Shepherd

By Nicholas Oakes

“Don’t panic Harold, don’t panic.”
Harold Shepherd still remembers the gesture and words of Francis McIsaac (top driver in the Maritimes before his tragic death in 1979) during Harold’s first drive aboard Abbner Night – when he was just 16-years-old.
“Francis sat on the outside of me and guided me through the whole mile,” Harold says. “I finished second.”
That was the beginning but it was far from the end for Harold, 50, as he’s made over 280 trips to the winner’s circle and banked $275,000 racing almost exclusively on P.E.I. – and mostly with his own stable.
Shepherd grew up in Charlottetown and his spare time saw him at the race track helping his father George ‘Buddy’ Shepherd with the barn work.
Eventually the lure of the horses was too much and Harold got his driver’s license dreaming (like everyone else) of making it big.
“All the young fellas around here wanted to drive. That was our dream: To drive in the Gold Cup & Saucer.”
He worked for top horsemen like Gary MacDonald, Joe Hennessey, and Earl Smith before settling down with his wife Francis and getting a full-time job with the provincial Department of Transportation, but horses were still in the picture. He remembers having 12 horses and doing them all after work.
“It was hectic. You were there half the night.”
His biggest driving win was in a $12,000 Lady Slipper division with trotter Pedro but when it comes to Harold’s involvement in racing his pride has been his sons Robert, 29, Steven, 25, and Patrick, 17.
Robert has recently established himself as a top Ontario ‘B’ track catch driver with just shy of 1000 wins life and over $7 million in purses. At first, Harold’s nerves took a beating when Robert jumped in the bike.
“I was more nervous standing at the fence watching someone else drive my horse than I would be out there in the race.”
Then, when Robert made the move to Alberta Harold was sad to see him go but knew he had to do it.
“Bottom line, on the Island there’s no money in the race game. Like Robert said, up in Ontario it’s a business.”
Business or not, Harold still gets nervous watching his son race.
“Even now sitting watching the computer you’re still nervous watching him. After the spills he had, why wouldn’t you.”
Harold clearly remembers this past March, sitting home excited that his son was driving almost a full card at Woodbine (including a drive in the Ontario Boys final), then seeing him piled up in one of the worst racing accidents recently in the country – triggered by Warp Speed and Mario Baillargeon.
“When it happened I said ‘he’s all right,’ then we watched it again and I saw it. It makes it even worse when you can’t get a hold of anybody.”
Currently, Harold trains a stable of five along with son Patrick. Between that, playing cards, and watching Robert race nearly every night of the week it’s enough to keep Harold busy and content.
“You got to love the game or you won’t be in it. It’s like the old fellas used to say ‘enjoy your ups because there’s a lot more downs.’”

Big Money: Mister Big

By Nicholas Oakes

The $500,000 Ben Franklin final was going behind the gate. Harrah`s Chester track announcer James Witherite-Rieg expected nothing short of a clash of the titans, and Brian Sears had a game plan that was sure to deliver.
The favourites were Mister Big (driven by Sears) with the rail and from post four was Ron Pierce and Art Official – the horse that shockingly upset Somebeachsomewhere in his only loss – but Mister Big wasn’t about to let that happen to him.
“I knew if Ronnie crossed over too easy with Art Official it was gonna be too hard on my horse to make up any ground,” says Sears.
When the wings folded Sears left out, trying to push the pace and keeping Foiled Again (Yannick Gingras) out long enough to force Art Official to post a 25.2 first quarter. Mister Big then drafted to the outside first up but took his time coming next to the front ending Art Offical, until there was less than a quarter of a mile left.
“Three-quarters in 1:20.4. Art Official up the inside, Mister Big on the outside, the battle we’ve been waiting for,” Witherite-Rieg said to the harness racing world that was waiting intently to see who would come out on top. “They’re in mid-stretch and Mister Big pokes a head in front. Mister Big and Art Official – and Mister Big wins the Franklin!”
The time flashed up: 1:48 – equalling Artistic Fella’s world record time on a 5/8’s track.
“That was a dazzling mile,” Sears says. “First up, stared them down, and kept coming.”
That kind of monster wasn’t what Tim Pinske was expecting to get while he looked through the consignment at the Kentucky Standardbred sale. He wanted something to race in the Ontario Sires Stakes and layed eyes on a colt by Grinfromeartoear out of Worlds Sweetheart – a well bred Jate Lobell mare with a less than stellar career on the track (she earned just $750 racing).
“He was a good sized horse,” Pinske recalls of the colt before he bought him for $55,000.
Breeder Kentuckiana Farm then bought back into the colt with a 25 per cent share.
“(Mister Big) was a great looking individual,” recalls Ken Jackson, co-owner of Kentuckiana Farms. “We have an affinity to Jate (Lobell). We find he is one of the greatest broodmare sires the sport has ever seen.”
“We were hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.”
In his first year racing for Pinske, Mister Big banked $125,440 and took a mark of 1:53 in a leg of the Dream Maker series at Mohawk with driver Phil Hudon.
“He had a great attitude and a great gait,” Pinske remembers.
In his three-year-old campaign things weren’t quite working out as planned as he had just $124,581 earned after finishing a disappointing fifth in the Ontario Sires Stakes Super final (won by Doonbeg). Then the decision was made to enter the horse in the Breeders Crown at Woodbine and Jody Jamieson was selected to drive, and he didn’t let them down. Mister Big posted a 42-1 upset in 1:49.2 (shaving two full seconds off his lifetime mark) and putting away a field that included top sophomores Artistic Fella, Total Truth, and Shark Gesture.
The next week – in the final – Mister Big finished second to Shark Gesture, ending his season with $312,433 earned on the year and $437,873 banked lifetime.
Jackson then figured the right move was to sell, so the next stop on Mister Big’s journey was the Harrisburg sale.
“Coming off a first in the elim and a second in the final it was an opportune time to sell,” Jackson says.
Meanwhile, Joe Muscara was on the hunt for a race horse prospect but had his mind made up and gave trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. his instructions: get Mister Big.
“He was the only one I wanted,” Muscara says, and after paying $255,000 for the horse and watching him put $3.5 million in the bank, he obviously knows what he wants..
As for Pinske, he isn’t bothered at all by the success that Mister Big has enjoyed since leaving his barn.
“We made money and Virgil made more,” Pinske shrugs. “That’s all right, he’ll be back for more.”
Jackson echoes the sentiment.
“In this game, if you sell one and it goes on and does good and you let it bother you, you won’t last long,” he says. “You wish well onto anyone who buys one from you.”
Jackson takes an extra amount of pride in Mister Big’s accomplishments since his sire (Grinfromeartoear), mother (Worlds Sweetheart – who is currently in foal to Art Major), and maternal grand-dam (Before Hours), were all bred by Kentuckiana Farms.
“It’s great to know that one you raised is the richest stallion of all time. It’s wonderful, that’s what we strive for. A lot of people say the cream always rises to the top and we believe that holds true with pedigrees.”
Coming back to race in January after the sale, Mister Big posted wins in the Willowdale series final at Woodbine, then won the Aquarius series final at The Meadowlands.
Although it’s one you wouldn’t think of, Morgan recalls it as one of Mister Big’s best races in his career.
Tuffofthetoughest was on front and backed down the half in 57.2 with Mister Big sitting ninth. To make up any ground, Mister Big did the near impossible – he came a back half in 52.1 coming three-wide at the three-quarters to do it.
“That was a wicked mile,” says Morgan. “But the mile was only in 1:51.2 so people didn’t really notice. You really have to watch the race to see what he did.”
Mister Big then continued to roll, earning $1,345,840 and winning 12 races – including the Haughton final (1:48.2), the US Pacing Championship (1:47.4 – his lifetime record), and the Allerage at The Red Mile (1:48.1) – all the while being driven by David Miller.
When people think of Mister Big they think of him closing hard or grinding first over but he can fire off the front end as well as any horse, Morgan says.
You only have to go back to his elimination of the Haughton memorial in 2008 to see how right he is. That day, Mister Big was on top at every call, tripping the wire in 1:48.1.
“He’s got a big motor. It didn’t surprise me,” Sears says.
“The way he did it on the front end was a scary mile,” Morgan says. “Anything you throw at him, he adapts. I think that’s the sign of a great horse.”
All of 2008 showed how truly great he is, as Brian Sears jumped in the bike permanently.
“He’s got a great mouth, a great gait, and great desire to win,” Sears says. “He’s got all the assets of a champion. It’s an honour to drive a horse like that. It definitely instills you with a great deal of confidence.”
Mister Big won 11 of 14 starts including a nine race win-streak of the $600,000 Haughton final and $50,000 elimination, $332,000 US Pacing Championship, $702,000 Canadian Pacing Derby, $532,150 Breeders Crown, $56,650 Winbak pace at Delaware, $157,000 Allerage stake, and the $317,000 Bob Quillen Memorial final and $30,000 elimination. This gave him $1,570,067 for the season and $3,353,780 in lifetime earnings at the end of his five-year-old campaign and made Muscara realize the unthinkable was within in his grasps and Gallo Blue Chip’s $4,293,108 career earnings record was breakable.
“To race him this year that was a big priority,” Muscara says. “That record was in sight if he put together a season like he did the past year-and-a-half.”
In the barn, Morgan can’t find much to complain about when dealing with Mister Big but there is one thing to remember.
“He’s a stud and he knows it,” Morgan says. “He’ll definitely try to nip or bite at you but in a playful way.”
But overall, Mister Big knows what he’s doing.
“He’s the kind of horse that takes care of himself. He likes to lay down, and when he isn’t, he’s got his head out looking at everything.”
Conformation wise, Morgan describes him as thick, muscular, and wide but not overly tall.
“He looks like a body builder, really no flaws in his conformation at all.”
“As far as him as a horse, he’s just a trainer’s dream and a pleasure. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
His daily routine see him turned out every day, jogged, and sometimes swam – but seldom sees a fast mile in between starts.
“Those races that he’s got to prep for, it takes a lot of work all spring. He doesn’t need much work in between.”
His health has also held up well to date for Morgan and Muscara. The only times he’s shown sickness were in the 2008 American National final where he finished 8^th with his white blood count out of whack, and when he was 6^th in 1:47.3 to Won The West this year in the Breeders Crown.
So far this year, he has $638,497 made as of press time and has five starts left on his dance card if everything goes to plan – the Winbak on Jug day, the Allerage, the American National at Balmoral, and the elim and final of the Quillen Memorial – with the potential of breaking the record if he can put together wins in 2-3 of them.
Regardless of the outcome, Mister Big is slated to stand stud at Tara Hills in Port Perry, Ont., in 2010 – with shuttle duty to either Australia of New Zealand.
“He’s done enough and I think it’s time for him to take a little rest and have some fun,” Muscara says.
And would it be safe to assume Mister Big is the best horse Muscara has ever had?
“He may be the best horse anybody has ever had,” says Muscara.

Driving like dad

By Nicholas Oakes

Every week Mark Johnson is proud and nervous at the same time. His stomach gets rolling, and he’s hoping his little girl gets around safe – but he know’s he has to keep it together because his daughter is certain of what she wants to do with her life: drive race horses.

“It feels overwhelming,” Mark says about watching his 21-year-old daughter Samara drive. “It’s like seeing your daughter win an award at school or something.”

Even though she’s only small, Mark believes she has the talent.

“All my kids are talented but she chose to go to horses because she loves them.”

“I’ve always wanted to be a driver. Always,” says Samara.

The notion really struck home when she was 16 living with her mother in Ottawa.

“It just hit me, this is what I want to do.”

So she moved back to Bailieboro, Ont., and now does most of her racing at Kawartha Downs. She’s learned a great deal from her father (806 driving wins, $1,684,912 in purses).

“He takes the horse into consideration more than the purse money. That’s how he drives and that’s how I like to drive.”

Driving horses in Canada is dominated by men and it frustrates Samara because she knows she can compete.

“It’s difficult because the guy driver’s don’t think I’m capable of driving.”

Her first win was in a Mildred Williams female driver’s event at Woodstock Raceway, aboard Getbehindanything in her second lifetime drive.

At first Samara was slightly confused.

The horses trainer was giving Samara instructions on how to use earplugs and she still wasn’t quite sure what the idea behind them was.

“Oh,” said a bewildered Samara, “so where do I pull them?”

“Wherever you think,” the trainer said with a shrug.

Going behind the gate, Samara’s nerves were pumping again as she tried her best to keep the potentially hot mare off of the starting gate. Getbehindanything sat in the four hole but up the backstretch the front end began to tire – due to a parked out Kris Hie – and Samara had some luck handed to her as she shook loose. At the head of the stretch she pulled the earplugs and the mare paced away.

The pride and joy of the Johnson stable is Strong Clan trotter Samaras Wonder (1:56.3, $180,000).  Samara loves the horses personality.

“He knows he’s good. He’s very, very smart. He knows how to open doors – he can get himself out of anywhere’s.”

But Samara’s current hopes lie in Thunder Road weanling Sam I Am – out of her first horse I Believe In You.

“He’s got the look of a champion. He’ll be one to look out for. Hopefully he won’t just look pretty and do nothing.”

On her spare time, Samara likes to just chill – writing songs, singing, and playing video games – but horses are the focus.

“I just like being around the horses I guess. Getting to be around them is what it’s all about for me.”

Igoddago

By Nicholas Oakes

They hit the half in 57 seconds flat in the 2004 Governor’s Plate final at Summerside Raceway, P.E.I.

Basin View Albert and Norris Rogers were at the rail with Igoddago and Mike Stevenson pushing on the outside and clearing before the third turn. The three-quarters flashed up 1:25.2 and the crowd began to buzz but Stevenson had no idea what kind of trip he was going.

“Everyone was running out onto the track hollering at me ‘The track record, the track record’ and I couldn’t hear what they were saying,” says Stevenson.

Igoddago cruised home to win in 1:55.3 – tieing Woodmere Topcat’s all-age track record.

“He was a monster,” Stevenson says looking back. “He just raced a big, big, big, big trip.”

The son of Drop Off – Sakra Posey has been trained by Mike Campbell of Fredericton, N.B., his entire career. Amassing over $200,000, 58 wins, and a lifetime mark of 1:54 over Charlottetown, the now 11-year-old gelding has given Campbell along with fellow owners Ron Roy and Liz Clarke quite a ride.

At 2, he won his first start then cracked a hind cannon bone. Given some time to recuperate he was sent to Campbell’s friend Mike MacDonald in Montreal for the winter where he scored a win in the $25,850 Salon Video pacing series. He returned home to the Maritimes in August of his three-year-old year to find his competition was the undefeated Firms Phantom. Drawing clear of him in the Duck Acorn stake in Charlottetown, Igoddago set a maritime record for three-year-old stallions of 1:56.2. Records weren’t uncommon for Igoddago as he was the fastest Maritime bred on Maritime soil thanks to a 1:54 victory shortly after the re-opening of the Charlottetown Driving Park in 2005.

“He can leave a hundred if you wanted, or you can take him back with two fingers,” Stevenson says. “You could do whatever you want with him – which I think is the sign of a good horse. He’s by no mean one-dimensional.”

Starting as a four-year-old he proved himself to be a dominant performer on the Maritime Invitational circuit.

“He always had the feeling that whenever you went out he would give you all he got,” says Campbell. “It didn’t matter who he was in with, he’d get you a slice of it.”

One of the most memorable for Campbell was winning the Wal Hennessey Memorial with cousin Kenny Arsenault driving.

“That meant a lot,” Arsenault says. “Grandfather’s race, and Mike training.”

Igoddago has put together 44 sub-2:00 miles throughout his 10 year career, and the reason he’s lasted so long in Campbell’s eyes was because of the people looking after him like Joey Shea and Mike’s wife Joan.

In the barn Igoddago has no shortage of personality.

“He’s a bit of mooch,” Campbell says. “He’s your best friend in the world if you have an apple or something, but if you don’t he can take to scowling pretty well.”

For the future, Campbell will keep racing him as long as he shows he’s up to it.

“If the day comes that he starts to slip noticeably then that’ll be it.”

But Campbell isn’t going to let the horse go just anywhere’s.

“He ain’t going on no banana boat to China or anything. He’s been too good to us.”