Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — As Justin MacEachern drove American Dream Boy across the finish line in first place at Plainridge Park in Massachusetts, he glanced back at veteran Plainridge regular Wally Watson, who was the only one with a chance to catch MacEachern.

“Coming down the stretch he tried to challenge me and he just didn’t get there,” MacEachern said. “So when I looked over at him, it was a pretty good feeling because he said ‘You got that one kid.’ It was pretty cool.”

It had to be, as Watson has won more than 2,000 races. Then again, at that moment, the 29-year-old MacEachern was something that Watson wasn’t — undefeated in his driving career.

The Aug. 23 victory was the first drive of Justin’s fledgling career, as he had only obtained his license four days earlier. It was also his first training win, although he procured that license last December.

The Aug. 23 victory with American Dream Boy was the first drive of Justin MacEachern’s fledgling career. Tom Melanson photo.

“All my family got to be there, so that was really cool,” MacEachern said. “I had the five hole and when the gate swung, I went right to the lead and I basically controlled the whole race and he took me right to the wire. He’s still a bit of a green 3-year-old and we’ve always had trouble with him behind the gate. He gets a little goofy and he would make breaks. That’s always been our biggest obstacle with him. Once I got him off the gate, I pretty much knew that I had the race.

“Getting down to the half I was looking back because the seven horse (favorite Wonderment Hanover) was definitely the horse to beat. He came first over and he wasn’t himself, there was no horse. I looked over to see him coming and he never got to me. I kind of knew right then and there the race was definitely mine.”

A third-generation horseman, MacEachern gave up a potential career as a chef to dive headlong into harness racing during his second year of culinary school at the Art Institute of Philadelphia. He seems to be cooking up some good stuff in the barn with a win and a place in four drives, along with a win, seven seconds and two thirds in 16 training starts.

Justin grew up in Massachusetts and was introduced to horses at Foxboro Raceway, where his dad, Frank, had a stable.

“I was always around the horses, always loved being in the barn, going on the track jogging and training,” he said. “I basically grew up in the barn around the farms until middle school.”

When Foxboro went out of business, Frank decided to try racing in New Jersey and opened a stable at Magical Acres in Chesterfield when Justin was 10.

“At that time, I basically lost interest in it,” MacEachern said. “My dad didn’t want me to get involved. He wanted me to go to school and get a degree and stuff.”

Upon graduating from Northern Burlington County High School, Justin attended community college before heading for AIP.

“I was kind of undecided on what I wanted to do and I realized I don’t get too many complaints on my food,” he said. “I always loved being in the kitchen and cooking, so I might as well give (culinary school) a go. I was already pretty educated on it from self-learning.”

MacEachern assured he has a wide array of dishes he can prepare, but added that, “I do have a huge love for Caribbean cuisine.”

Something happened on his way to the stove, however. After high school, Frank got hurt and Justin began helping him around the stable, doing catch paddocks and some shipping while his dad was laid up. At that point he became enamored with the horses all over again and soon abandoned school.

“I love caring for them,” he said. “I love everything about the whole business. I think also, being in college I wasn’t making too much money and when you start hustling catch paddocks at 21, all of a sudden the cash flow starts coming in. That’s the other thing. I went from making minimum wage to making six or seven hundred bucks a week.”

It was about to get better. Frank eventually landed with Jimmy Takter and soon brought his son on board to get a precious education.

“My dad called me up and said, ‘If you want to do this, you better get over here right now, I’ve got a job for you and this is the perfect place to learn,’” MacEachern said. “I worked for Jimmy for almost three years, it was a great experience.”

Justin MacEachern, with Call Me Queen Be, after he was named the 2016 Caretaker of the Year by the U.S. Harness Writers Association. Vicki Wright photo.

From there, he worked for several other trainers before hooking up with the Ross Croghan Stable. MacEachern worked as Croghan’s caretaker for the past six years, highlighted by the 2016 season. Charged with the care of Call Me Queen Be for two years, he watched with pride and near-disbelief when the 3-year-old filly pacer won the Breeders Crown, which led to Justin being named the 2016 Caretaker of the Year by the U.S. Harness Writers Association.

And while it was a thrill to get his first driving and training wins at Plainridge, that couldn’t compare to the Breeders Crown.

“Absolutely not,” MacEachern said. “When Queen Be won that, I didn’t think we had a shot. She went into the elimination the week before, I thought she should have won the elimination and she was very slack. It was almost we didn’t even want to race her in the final. She had some issues coming out of the elimination race. When she came first over and won that race, I get goosebumps still thinking about it. I’m telling you, I don’t think I breathed for a whole minute. I was lost, I didn’t know what the hell to do.

“I was a little more confident going into my first drive with my horse. I kind of had an expectation on myself. I really can’t compare the two.”

MacEachern stayed with Croghan for another two years before his mentor told him it was time to “spread his wings and fly,” this year. Bolstered by his award and Croghan’s confidence in him, Justin decided to go for it.

“I always knew I eventually wanted to go off on my own and start my own stable and drive,” he said. “I had my trotter in New Jersey and he was getting his bridle ripped off him week after week competing with those horses (at The Meadowlands and Harrah’s Philadelphia), so I decided to try him up at Plainridge where he could be competitive, and it’s been a good move so far.”

American Dream Boy, owned by John Powers Jr., is the only horse in MacEachern’s stable at the moment, so he is also working part-time for his brother’s excavating business in Massachusetts. His hope is to get a few yearlings and break them in Florida over the winter, where he would also drive his trotter at Pompano Park.

“That would be my plan, and slowly but surely build my stable,” he said. “I’ve had two catch drives so far. I’m trying to make myself known around the paddock. It’s always a slow start when you start out. But I’m definitely trying to work on getting a stable going and do more training than driving. I’m more interested in driving the horses I train instead of on the other side as a catch driver.”

Whatever happens, MacEachern is happy he made the choice to put down the spatula and pick up the lines.

“Just being around the horses gives you the feeling that you just don’t get,” he said. “I’ve always loved the animals and I guess moving away from it and getting back into it, I just fell back in love with them.”