Meet Ontario’s Regional Driving Reps

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Published: October 4, 2016 05:25 pm EDT

Two of the Woodbine Entertainment Group Circuit’s big guns will be taking aim at the National title and opportunity to represent Canada in the 2017 World Driving Championship when they compete in the 2016 National Driving Championship on Friday, October 14 at The Raceway at the Western Fair District.

Trevor Henry – Homecoming at Western Fair

For Trevor Henry, it will be a bit like a homecoming of sorts when he lines up behind the starting gate for the eight NDC races at The Raceway at the Western Fair District on Friday, October 14.

The 45-year-old resident of Arthur, Ontario has driven over 2,200 winners at the London oval -- that’s more than one third of his 28 year career win total of 6,080. “I do know the track well,” he surmises, “hopefully that will help a bit.”

For many years, Henry travelled the Southwestern Ontario circuit, driving at multiple tracks in a week to ply his trade.

In October of 2014, he decided to make the full time move to the WEG circuit. “It (the move) has been good for me. I was tired of driving to all of the different tracks and wanted to slow down. Now I know where I’m going to be every night. I’ve been lucky enough to get lots of drives and have some success so it’s worked out very well.”

Very well is a bit of an understatement. The 2015 campaign was his first full year competing on the WEG circuit and he put up career record stats in earnings with $4.3 million, to go along with 265 wins. He’s enroute to completing another $4 million + season this year, having already banked $4.1 million in earnings.

This marks Henry’s second time competing in the National Driving Championship. He took part in the 2011 event hosted in Prince Edward Island but was recovering from a hand injury and didn’t fare well.

In 2013, he was the beneficiary of Jody Jamieson’s withdrawal from the World Driving Championship. SC’s Board of Directors selected him, as Canada’s winningest driver in 2012, to represent Canada in France. “I didn’t have much success in France. Hopefully if I’m the lucky one this time around, I think it would be great to rep Canada here on home soil.”

Along with his driving experience in France, Henry has other International experience that could prove helpful if he moves on to the Worlds. When he was vacationing in Australia in 2015 he was able to do some driving. “I’ve been to Australia twice and the last time I was able to drive, I had two wins at Leeton.”
No doubt the man who dominated The Raceway’s driving charts for years will be a fan favourite on October 14.

James MacDonald - A Year of Milestones

A win in the NDC would be the icing on the cake of a year full of milestones for James MacDonald. In June the 30-year-old Guelph resident won the Ontario Regional Driving Championship hosted at Grand River Raceway; in July his dog Tank emerged victorious in the Weiner Dog Races, also at Grand River. In late August, he and his wife Jenna became the proud parents of their first born, son Griffin. Then on September 24 at Mohawk, James won the richest race of his career when he scored his second consecutive victory in the $311,000 Milton Stakes with Lady Shadow.

The summer and fall of 2010 was the turning point when James MacDonald knew he was going to try and make a career out of driving horses. “I was starting to have a bit of luck driving at Kawartha Downs, commuting with Billy Davis; we were both obsessed and I didn’t know if I would be good enough to make this a career but I was hoping.”

That was a breakthrough year as MacDonald finished with 86 wins and almost $650,000 in purse earnings from 932 drives. The following season saw him double his drives and double all of his stats as he won 247 races and drove horses to $1.9 million in purses.

By late 2012 he was starting to drive more regularly on the WEG circuit and he carried that momentum over to 2013. Unfortunately a racing accident in mid-January sidelined him for two months. After returning from injury in March, he picked up where he left off and became a full-time member of the WEG driving colony, where he now is close to the top of the charts for wins.

To date this year, the P.E.I. native has 175 wins and over $3.4 million in purse earnings from 1,488 drives.

He’s all for taking part in any event or promotion and understands the importance of interacting with fans as evidenced by his annual participation in Grand River Raceway’s Bouncy Pony Stakes -- which he won four times in a row. He also made the trek to Century Downs Racetrack and Casino to take part in the Pacing For Charity event on Sunday, August 14.

“I try and talk to the fans whenever I can; I get messages via Facebook and Twitter and try to provide as much information as I can.”

This will mark the first time that James has competed in the NDC and he’s hopeful about his chances, “Trevor and I have a bit of an advantage over the other drivers...we know the horses and trainers and we can talk to the trainers here.”
When asked if he had a good luck charm, he chuckles and confides that he is “a little superstitious.”

“I have Sidney Crosby socks that are my ‘lucky socks’ that I wore for a long time. At the Ontario Regional, I received an I Love Canadian Harness Racing wristband and I won that night so I haven’t taken it off since! It’s really hard to see the logo now because I shower in it and never take it off.”

You can bet he’ll be wearing the wristband on October 14!

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