3'3 l . .. Paill g acKenzie On Top of H is Game

aul .\lacKenxie. at age ~t . was one

of the national success stories in

harness racing and this talented gentleman happened to haye his roots in Charlottetown. Prince lidward Island. Paul was among the leaders each year in total wins at l-‘lamboro Downs. Paul trained approximately a dozen horses and trayelled the circuit in Ontario tor (iold and Grassroots stakes in addition to inyitational and oyernight eyents; howey— er. he always made time each year to return to l’.li.l, for a week in August to participate in the prestigious (iold Cup and Saucer and Old Home \V'eek actiyi— ties. Somehow the (iold Cup and Saucer would not be the same without an entry hour this accomplished dt'i\'er who

became one of l’.l{.l.'s great amlmssadors.

l’aul MacKen/ie was introduced to the world of standardbreds at age seyen mainly because he liyed only a stone's throw from the Charlottetown l)ri\‘ing Park and his relati\ es were way inyolyed in harness racing. As a youngster he would sit on the lap ol‘ lilmer or lack l’erguson and take the reins as they jogged Illll‘l‘d/J or (kl/alumni] S'coH. lle londly remembered the thrill and enjoy ment of these early experiences and he

still got the same rush when he got on his

l’hoto: (iail MacDonald

bike lor a race at lilainboro or \\”oodbine.

In retrospect. Paul was appreciatiye to haye had a number of talented and expe— rienced mentors during his early years in the industry. He stated. “I started out with lilmer l’erguson and then I used to hang around a lot with ‘lack Ferguson. I learned from Buddy Campbell. Garry .\lacl)onald and Earl Smith taught me a lot when l was going up through the ranks.” lle related that Buddy Campbell could shoe a horse and hang one out. He taught you what to do when a horse had certain problems. He remembered that (iarry .\lacDonald was the first to allow him to don his colors and warm a horse up on race nights. lle receiyed inyaluable experience and adyice while in the employ of liarl Smith. Paul explained. “Some ol these guys could do sortie things better than others. I admired all ol them."

Paul was working with [Carl Smith when liarl moyed his stable lrom the Charlottetown Driying Park to Sackyille [)owns in the early 1‘)S‘()s. Shortly alter this moye. liarl and Ronnie (lass moyed to .\lontreal and they lel't l’aul some hors— enough for

es that weren't good

.\lontreal. This was Paul's lirst experi—

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