MacDonald still sidelined after Woodbine tunnel accident

February 12, 2008

Where, oh where is Mark MacDonald? One of the leading reinsmen in the Woodbine driving colony, MacDonald has been conspicuously absent for the past four weeks, thanks to a driving accident which happened not on the racetrack, but in the tunnel connecting the track to the Woodbine paddock.

"I was coming through the tunnel, and Jody Jamieson with Primetime Bobcat was behind me," MacDonald explains. "Bobcat stumbled, and he landed right on top of me. He pretty much knocked me out of the bike, and it dislocated my left shoulder, which has been a problem for me ever since I injured it in an accident at Windsor (Raceway) about six years ago. It actually pops in and out all the time, because I don't have enough cartilage left in the joint to hold it in.

"I did get the shoulder popped back in soon after it happened, but it didn't feel right. I had to pass on my remaining drives that night, and when I had it looked at the doctors told me I had to rest it for six to eight weeks."

That was a tall order for the 29-year-old Charlottetown native, who had a $7.6 million(C) year in 2007 and made 1,920 starts, bringing home 310 wins, 229 seconds, and 223 thirds. Some of the highlights included piloting Casie Coleman trainee, Moving Pictures, to wins in the Roses Are Red Stakes, the Milton Stakes, and the Breeders Crown, bringing O'Brien finalist Chancey Lady home first in the Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final, and steering Domitian Hanover to a win in the Canadian Breeders' Championship at Mohawk.

He threw himself into an intensive routine of physiotherapy and rehab exercises for the shoulder, but an attempted return to driving two weeks after the incident, on Jan. 26, proved a bit premature. "I did nine or 10 drives that night, because if I'm coming back I want to come back full-time, not just dabble in it," he says. "But it wasn't ready yet. I had to sleep in a chair that night because the shoulder was hurting so much it wouldn't let me lie down."

A subsequent ultrasound convinced MacDonald to give his problematic wing a little more recuperative time. "It's a posterior dislocation, so it's kind of unusual," he says. "I've had some doctors recommend surgery, but others have told me that because it pops out the back it would just be better to work on the surrounding muscles than to operate.

"I've been going to the gym as well as working out at home, and I'm down to three times a week with the physio appointments. It feels pretty strong now. I'm hoping another week will do it. I'm planning to go out and jog a few for Casie (Coleman) to test it out, and then we'll see."

Despite the lost revenue the injury has represented, MacDonald certainly isn't one to feel sorry for himself. He sees this as a relatively minor setback in a career which has already yielded far worse accidents.

"That same wreck where I originally injured the shoulder, I also broke several bones in my wrist," he says. "But the worst one was when I had my whole face broken a few years ago at the Western Fair (in London, Ont.). That one was rough. It shattered my cheekbones, my orbital bones, my jaw. I had something like 100 stitches, and another 30 in my tongue. My jaw was wired shut for a couple of months and I lost weight like crazy. Let me tell you, after a while nothing tastes good coming through a straw! Mashed potatoes and gravy were what kept me alive for a while."

In his garage, MacDonald keeps the remnants of his helmet, which was shattered in two, as a reminder of that day. He remarks that if the accident had happened in the days before the modern helmets were legislated, "you wouldn't be talking to me now, because I'd be dead." Though it was his face, not his torso, which bore the brunt of the impact on that occasion, he says he has also worn a protective vest to drive since that day, and doesn't object to the recent Ontario Racing Commission ruling to make them mandatory across the province.

"All in all, I've been in worse shape than I am now," MacDonald says philosophically. "I'm not going to complain. This will benefit me, really, in the long run. I almost never take a break, and it's actually good because it's giving me a chance to get back into better shape. And I've been able to spend some time with my kids (Marshall, 3, and Connor, nine months), which has been really nice, even if it is a bit of a challenge keeping up with Marshall one-handed."

It's a safe bet, however, that he'll soon be back where he belongs, getting the rear view of a fast horse and a rear-view-mirror look at his competition. "The injuries don't really bother me," he says. "I still love the job."(WEG)

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