Frequent flyer MacDonald

Bluegrass Airport in Lexington, Ky., was a busy place late Saturday afternoon as drivers who competed earlier at The Red Mile were scattering to go to other tracks on chartered planes to race that night. Mark MacDonald and several other Ontario-based drivers had a private plane waiting to take them back to Mohawk, while Andy Miller was heading to Chicago's Balmoral Park and Dave Palone had a flight waiting for the short trip to Pittsburgh so he could drive at The Meadows.

“Our plane was full,” said MacDonald Monday morning with a laugh, adding that he missed his first two drives, which subsequently cost him a $200 fine by the Mohawk stewards. The delay was a result of a thunderstorm in the area that added an extra 30 minutes to the journey as the pilot had to take a detour.

MacDonald, the leading driver in Canada in wins and earnings, had six drives on The Red Mile’s Saturday program, with his only check coming from Ideal Vintage’s victory in a $94,800 Bluegrass division for 2-year-old colt pacers. Still, that winner’s purse of $47,400 earned him a five-percent commission of $2,370. He made it to Mohawk in time for the fifth race, but in his eight drives on the evening he had only two seconds and two thirds for $29,418 in purse earnings ($1,470 at five-percent commission).

MacDonald, whose total take on the day was $3,640 (including his $200 fine) said he plans on returning to Lexington on Tuesday morning and will drive the final five afternoon cards in Kentucky, but says it will get hectic this weekend as he will be driving once again at both The Red Mile and Mohawk.

“It looks like I’ll be going back and forth on Friday and Saturday,” he said. “I’ll be busy.”

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