Mark MacDonald hopes to reign in Hambletonian with King Of The North – U.S. Trotting News

Gordon Waterstone

Lexington, KY — Driver Mark MacDonald reached the winner’s circle on Hambletonian day final 12 months at The Meadowlands with King Of The North within the Peter Haughton Memorial for 2-year-old colt trotters and the 43-year-old driver is hoping a repeat is within the playing cards on this 12 months’s program on Saturday (Aug. 6) when he directs the now 3-year-old within the 97th renewal of the $1 million Hambletonian.

For MacDonald, a local of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, this shall be his first-ever Hambletonian last after two prior drives in 2016 and 2017 did not advance out of the eliminations. For King Of The North, a win can be candy because the son of Walner-Verify Me Out is winless in 5 makes an attempt this 12 months.

“It will be excellent to win this,” mentioned MacDonald, who remembers studying concerning the Hambletonian whereas rising up on his household’s Canadian farm when neighbor H.B. Willis owned Arnie’s Purpose, who completed second in his elim and fourth within the second warmth within the first trotting traditional raced at The Meadowlands in 1981.

“Everyone desires to race within the Hambletonian,” mentioned MacDonald, who has 6,507 profession wins and is lower than $820,000 from reaching the $1 million mark in earnings.

Driver Mark MacDonald reached the winner’s circle on Hambletonian day final 12 months with King Of The North within the Peter Haughton Memorial for 2-year-old colt trotters. USTA/Mark Corridor photograph.

Final 12 months’s Dan Patch Award winner as 2-year-old Colt Trotter of the 12 months, King Of The North is skilled by Ray Schnittker, who received the 2008 Hambletonian with Deweycheatumnhowe and whose Schnittker Ward shares possession with Arden Homestead Steady, Nolamaura Racing and Steven Arnold. King Of The North will begin from put up eight within the 10-horse area (race 15).

MacDonald famous that whereas King Of The North completed fourth in his elimination final weekend behind the profitable Jiggy Jog S, he lamented lack of racing room within the stretch. MacDonald had taken the early lead with King Of The North however after yielding the entrance, discovered himself locked in late.

“I by no means bought out,” mentioned MacDonald. “I used to be in a field there behind Brian (Sears, with Joviality S) and Orjan (Kihlstrom, with Temporal Hanover). They walked to the third quarter in 30 seconds and I needed to again out round Orjan’s wheel and that’s once we actually began sprinting. You possibly can’t go from side to side on the identical time so I needed to get him sq..

“By then the race was over. On the wire he had a lot of trot.”

MacDonald mentioned he wasn’t involved with King Of The North drawing an out of doors spot on the beginning gate within the wealthy last.

“Publish eight might be the most effective spot on the gate or it couldn’t be,” he mentioned with fun. “My opinion is that he’s precisely the place he’s meant to be, and what’s going to occur will occur.”

MacDonald says whereas King Of The North might have been given morning-line odds of 15-1, don’t low cost his trotter’s possibilities.

“I don’t assume anyone shall be blown away if he wins,” he mentioned. “He’s pretty much as good as any horse in there. Hopefully we are able to map one thing out. I believe there are six or seven horses which have reputable possibilities to win and I believe that all the time makes for a superb race.”

When requested, MacDonald was coy about his doable race technique.

“Everyone desires to be in a superb place,” mentioned MacDonald. “Perhaps we’ll should be aggressive or perhaps we are able to sit again and choose up the items. You by no means know, you must hold an open thoughts from that place.

“He’s a greater stalker; he likes to chase horses down with a goal. He’s coming into this in actually good condition and I believe he’s peaking. Ray (Schnittker) mentioned he skilled him (Tuesday, Aug. 2) and he mentioned he skilled good. You need to hope the racing gods are with us on Saturday and we get slightly racing luck.”

$1 million Hambletonian last
Publish, Driver, Coach, Morning Line
1. Rebuff, Tim Tetrick, Lucas Wallin, 9-5
2. Joviality S, Brian Sears, Marcus Melander, 7-2
3. Quick As The Wind, Yannick Gingras, Tony Alagna, 8-1
4. Keg Stand, David Miller, Nancy Takter, 10-1
5. Jiggy Jog S, Dexter Dunn, Ake Svanstedt, 4-1
6. Cool Papa Bell, Todd McCarthy, Jim Campbell, 15-1
7. Temporal Hanover, Orjan Kihlstrom, Marcus Melander, 8-1
8. King Of The North, Mark MacDonald, Ray Schnittker, 15-1
9. Periculum, Mattias Melander, Marcus Melander, 15-1
10. Appears Like Moni, Andrew McCarthy, Nancy Takter, 15-1