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London, ON – December 10, 2023 — The 4th annual Driver’s Holiday Challenge at The Raceway turned into the James MacDonald show Sunday as the two-time O’Brien Award winner captured five of the 10 races in the harness racing competition and took home the trophy for the second time in the event’s young history.
MacDonald made a statement early with a sweep of the daily double behind Matts Tuition and Mach Jacobs. He then clicked in race 5 with Scarlet Dragon and in race 7 with Favaro Seelster before capping off his big afternoon in race 8 behind Southwind Bayou.
MacDonald finished the competition with 104 points, finishing 10 ahead of Tyler Borth who had a pair of winners on the day. MacDonald and Borth also captained teams of four in the competition and it was Team MacDonald – consisting of Jason Ryan, Paul MacKenzie and defending champion Nat Day – narrowly edging out Team Borth – consisting of Dan Clements, Garret Rooney and Daryl Thiessen – by just two points (248-246).
“It was an awesome day,” reflected MacDonald during an interview afterwards by COSA TV’s Robert Reid Jr. “We had a great team and were cheering each other on all day. We all had fun with it for sure and it’s all for a great cause.”
The five-win day extended MacDonald’s lead in the national driver standings as well, bumping his total to 412 – putting him 20 ahead of Tyler Borth who sits at 392 for the season.
Sunday’s event raised an estimated $15,000 in toys and cash donations for Toys for Tots. More than $50,000 has been raised for the local charity since the initiative began in 2020.
The Raceway continues its busy holiday schedule with live racing this Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 5:50 p.m. Fans are reminded that the always popular Boxing Day program is back on December 26th and 12:55 p.m. and the New Year’s Eve card is scheduled for December 31st at 7:30 p.m.
For full details or to making dining reservations, visit here.
For complete race results, click here.
by Greg Blanchard, for The Raceway
