Introduction 
     
    
   
   
    
     of watching him race in the Maritimes where he began his illustrious career. What a 
     
     pleasure it would have been to interview or even meet joe O‘Brien. 
     
    
   
   
    
     At age 29, in his familiar blue—gold—white driving colors, Mark MacDonald from 
     
     Kingston, Prince Edward Island has earned an incredible resume as a driver of stan— 
     
     dardbreds. Four of his major achievements include wins in the Little Brown Jug with 
     
     Mr. Feelgood, the Armbro Flight Stakes with Falls For You, two successive Gold Cup and 
     
     Saucers with Sand Olls Dexter and an amazing 1247.3 victory at the Red Mile in Kentucky 
     
    
   
   
    
     with American Ideal. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In addition, this young reinsman holds the Canadian record for wins in a single year 
     
     with an incredible 739 total. Mark is very appreciative and honored to have won the 
     
     Joe O’Brien Award for Driver of the Year in 2005 and again in 2006. january 15, 2006 
     
     was a very special day when former Premier Pat Binns proclaimed it Mark MacDonald 
     
     Day in Prince Edward Island. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Atlantic provinces are renowned for producing and exporting talented, horsemen 
     
     and horses to other parts of Canada and to the United States. Words cannot describe 
     
     Somebeachsomewhere. He won 14 of his 15 lifetime starts and won over $2 million in 
     
     the process. He was perhaps the most impressive standardbred colt ever. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Truro, Nova Scotia raised a classic masterpiece. Congratulations to owners, The 
     
     Schooner Stables in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia. Special congratulations to his trainer, Brent 
     
     MacGrath and to his driver Paul MacDonell. Congratulations also to people behind the 
     
     scene like jean Louis Arsenault, Phil Pinkney and others who played roles in the suc— 
     
     cess of Somebeachsomewhere. 
     
    
   
   
    
     It is my hope and intention that the individuals profiled in Bebiml the Gate represent a 
     
     cross—section of the people involved in harness racing in the Atlantic region from the 
     
     early 1900s to 2008. There were many capable and deserving people who were not 
     
     profiled. I apologize to them and to their families. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Paul Murphy