by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — A year ago at this time, Mark MacDonald wasn’t thinking about winning 5,000 races.

He was just thinking about being able to drive in one more race.

On May 26, 2011, the Canadian was halfway down the stretch at Mohawk when Jody Jamieson’s horse dropped in front of him and fell to the track.

“I was right behind him, I couldn’t miss him,” MacDonald said. “I kind of got launched, the horse went over him, and the bike went into the track and slingshot me. I went face first into the track.”

The impact knocked MacDonald out for more than five minutes. After being rushed to the hospital, he was diagnosed with a broken jaw in five places, a broken cheekbone, a broken shoulder, ligament damage in his left forearm, nerve damage in the left hip and a two-inch tear in his spleen.

“I was knocked out for a couple of days,” MacDonald said.

When he finally regained his senses, the 33-year-old wasn’t feeling sorry for himself. He was only focusing on how to get back on the track after suffering his second serious injury in seven years.

“I just was thinking about what I have to do to get back in shape,” he said. “I kind of worked on my shoulder. I thought they might have to do surgery on the shoulder. I worked through that, did as much physical therapy as I could and got it good on my own, so I didn’t need the surgery. Luckily the rotator cuff was frayed, it wasn’t torn.”

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Mark MacDonald won the 2011 Breeders Crown 3-year-old colt pace with Betterthancheddar.

Once he got everything down to “just” a plate in his jaw, MacDonald figured he was ready to go. He enjoyed a triumphant return by winning a Breeders Crown with Betterthancheddar in October, but started to experience post-concussion symptoms and took off several months beginning in November.

In February, he returned to the sulky and has been competing primarily at Yonkers Raceway in New York.

Rather than dwell on the unfortunate injury side of a career, MacDonald focused on the good stuff — which includes more than $60 million in purse earnings and wins in some of harness racing’s biggest events.

“Injuries are part of the job, I guess,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of good things happen. Yeah, I had a bad accident, but I won a couple of Breeders Crowns, a Little Brown Jug. You can look at it two ways. I look at it that I’m fortunate not to have any career-ending injuries, I’m OK now. I’m very lucky.”

He is also very good. MacDonald will be driving talented 3-year-old colt pacer Bolt The Duer in Saturday’s $300,000 Max Hempt Memorial at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. He enters the race just 11 wins from 5,000 for his career.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Mark MacDonald is closing in on 5,000 lifetime wins.

“That’s pretty cool,” MacDonald said. “It puts you up on a different plateau; it’s a lot of wins and it represents a lot of hard work for me. Any time you can reach a milestone it’s rewarding.”

Most of MacDonald’s wins have come in his homeland of Canada, where he began driving and training in his early teens.

“When I first started driving I was just hoping to get enough to eat,” he said. “There were some nip and tuck weeks where there just wasn’t a lot of money.”

Things started to improve and he began driving some of the more talented horses from the stable of Bob McIntosh at age 19.

“That’s something you don’t really think about,” he said. “But when you get close to (5,000) you start to reflect back.”

Of all his highlights, MacDonald lists a one-hour span in 2010 as his favorite. That’s when he won the Pepsi North American Cup with Sportswriter, then won the Fan Hanover with Western Silk. Both were for trainer Casie Coleman.

“I won (races worth) $2.1 million in purses in almost 40 minutes,” MacDonald said with a laugh. “Not too many people get a chance to do that.”

New Image Media photo

Mark MacDonald captured the 2010 North America Cup with Sportswriter.

MacDonald is looking forward to Saturday, when Bolt The Duer, Hurrikane Kingcole and I Fought Dalaw lead a strong field in the Hempt.

“Bolt The Duer is a nice horse,” MacDonald said. “He’s a very professional horse on the race track. He’s very well mannered.

“He’s very versatile. You can race him three different trips in three different races. Sometimes you get a real fast horse, but they’re erratic. He’s not.”

After having success in some big races in the U.S., MacDonald has decided to come to the States this season after a career of racing in Canada.

“It’s different,” he said. “It’s fun, meeting new people and going to the different tracks. You have a lot of opportunity; there are a lot of tracks here.”

Living in Goshen, N.Y., MacDonald has his pick of nearby tracks. So far this year he’s raced at Yonkers, the Meadowlands, Pocono, Tioga, Monticello and Philadelphia.

“Nothing is more than two hours away,” MacDonald said. “It’s kind of neat to change it up all the time. When I came back from the accident I was looking for something different. There’s no time like the present.

“You don’t just go to the same place every day,” he continued, adding with a laugh, “It’s not like (the movie) Groundhog Day.”

Not unless you consider MacDonald wakes up every day and focuses on the good. The good that results in milestones like 5,000 wins.