GUELPH, Ont. — Yes, I can.
That attitude led Kingston native Anthony MacDonald to being a sought-after catch driver, then operator of the nation’s largest stable and now being honoured with the most prestigious award in Canadian harness racing.
MacDonald, 43, was training horses this week at his TheStable.ca venture in Ontario when he got off the track to realize he had visitors who informed him he will be the 12th recipient of the Cam Fella Award, recognizing extreme recent meritorious service to the Canadian harness racing industry.
“We were prepping some youngsters for our next drone day and it appeared half of Standardbred Canada was waiting in the yard,” MacDonald chuckled. “(Winning the award) has been an incredibly humbling experience. I'm very proud of what we have been able to accomplish in such a short time at TheStable.ca and it's only dwarfed by my expectations of the future.”
From 12 winners across Canada since 1997, MacDonald will be the third Islander to win the award.
Provincial treasurer Mitch Murphy was the third recipient of the award, which is only awarded when there is a viable candidate, in 2003 for his work rebuilding the Charlottetown Driving Park after hurricane Juan into what is now Red Shores. William Andrew won the award in 2015, for the Island native’s work on his Meridian Farms operation in Alberta and Milton and charitable contributions and work throughout the industry.
“My life seems to have so many twists and turns, I couldn’t possibly navigate it again if I tried,” MacDonald said of growing up in Island racing then leaving Bluefield High School to race horses in Ontario to work for Mike MacDonald. “I learned a lot from Mike, and although it appeared at the time to be a failed baptism by fire, some of the things I learned working for, and being around, Mike make up many of the core principles of TheStable.ca today.”
MacDonald was a busy catch driver when the Slot’s At Racetracks revenue sharing program was cancelled in Ontario in 2012 and was then asked by then Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak to run an their candidate in his home community of Guelph.
“I have been a fan, groom, trainer, owner and driver over my lifetime in this industry. Grinding my way forward for over two decades. My attitude towards life was:
It was the scariest time of my life,” MacDonald said. “Every day I saw the terror in everyone’s eyes here in Ontario and my answer to Mr. Hudak revolved one simple question: What would I tell my kids when they asked what I did to save our industry? How could I decline the political request and look at myself in the mirror? That very moment in my life changed who I was going to be forever.”
MacDonald and the Tories were defeated in the election, but MacDonald found himself making some more bold decisions and, along with wife Amy, started the fractional ownership syndicate TheStable.ca where owners can purchase as little as one per cent of a race horse. The operation now has more than 100 horses in training with more than 800 clients from 12 countries and MacDonald makes trips for speaking engagements for his venture all over the globe.
“To put it into perspective, if we cut TheStable.ca in half right now, we would have the two biggest stables in Canada,” he said. “Not only did we bring owners into the game, we gave trainers who the industry passed by, a second chance to rekindle their love for this sport also.”
A winner of 3,000 races and $30 million in purse earnings himself, MacDonald now primarily operates TheStable.ca while leaving most of the driving and training to others.
“It's been a long ride, but it appears as though horse racing is finally ready to enter the 21st century,” MacDonald said. “I believe we are on the cusp of a seismic shift within our industry. One that will change the very way we see ourselves and put us on a path of expansion and growth. This path will take hard work, but that is one-thing horsemen have never shied away from.”
Nick’s Picks
Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Red Shores at the Charlottetown Driving Park:
Race 1 – Jens Credit
Race 2 – Dustylane Zambucca
Race 3 – Clare Hall Hanover
Race 4 – Julep Hanover
Race 5 – Harbourlite Jerry
Race 6 – Lincoln Seelster
Race 7 – Winter Blast
Race 8 – Messier Seelster
Race 9 – Charlottes Western
Race 10 – Bettim Jenny
Race 11 – Smiley Bayama
Race 12 – Arc Light
Race 13 – Burn Out Hanover
Race 14 – Pictonian Storm
Nicholas Oakes' column appears in The Guardian each Friday. He can be reached at [email protected].
