It was an historic night for Guelph harness driver James MacDonald on Friday, when he recorded his 4,000th career win.
MacDonald crossed the milestone marker at Woodbine Mohawk Park, driving five-year-old pacing mare Fistofanera in the second race of the day, explains a post on Woodbine’s website.
“The 4,000-win milestone is part of a tremendous run of success for MacDonald over the last several seasons,” notes the post. “The 4,000-win milestone is part of a tremendous run of success for MacDonald over the last several seasons.
“It took MacDonald only 861 days to go from 3,000 career wins to 4,000.”
The driver’s milestone win came a few weeks after MacDonald received his fourth straight Keith Waples Driver of the Year award from Standardbred Canada.
That award recognizes MacDonald’s career-high purse earnings in 2024, reaching nearly $12.33 million, which made him the first Canadian-based driver to break the $12 million mark in a single season.
He also drove winners of more than 400 races for the third consecutive year (444 in total) and was the regular driver of four O’Brien Award-winning horses – Chantilly, Its A Love Thing, Willys Home Run and Monalishi.
“(You) just try and show up every night and do the best you can," MacDonald previously told GuelphToday. "My goal is just (to) be consistent, try and show up with a good attitude and do the best you can."
MacDonald’s 2024 season wins include stakes victories at the Meadowlands Pace, Cane Pace, Peaceful Way, Fan Hanover and Shes A Great Lady in addition to two Breeders Crown finals.
“After winning four straight Woodbine driving titles, MacDonald is off to another great start in 2025 with 45 wins at the Campbellville oval entering Friday, 12 more than his nearest rival in the standings,” the Woodbine post continues.
Five of those wins came on Saturday, also at Woodbine.
MacDonald is a native of Prince Edward Island, the youngest of five siblings, who now lives in Guelph.
"The numbers are great … and it's great to have high earnings and purse earnings," MacDonald previously told GuelphToday. "But you want the trophies, you want the big ones and it just starts with staying consistent and working hard every night."
- With files from Mark Pare
