P of the national success stories in 
     
    

    
     harness racing and this talented 
     
     gentleman happened to have his roots in 
     
     Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. 
     
     Paul was among the leaders each year in 
     
     total wins at Flamboro Downs. Paul 
     
     trained approximately a dozen horses 
     
     and travelled the circuit in Ontario for 
     
     Gold and Grassroots stakes in addition to 
     
     invitational and overnight events; howev— 
     
     er, he always made time each year to 
     
     return to PEI. for a week in August to 
     
     participate in the prestigious Gold Cup 
     
     and Saucer and Old Home Week activi— 
     
     ties. Somehow the Gold Cup and Saucer 
     
     would not be the same without an entry 
     
     from this accomplished driver who 
     
     became one of P.E.I.‘s great ambassadors. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Paul MacKenzie was introduced to the 
     
     world of standardbreds at age seven 
     
     mainly because he lived only a stone‘s 
     
     throw from the Charlottetown Driving 
     
     Park and his relatives were very involved 
     
     in harness racing. As a youngster he 
     
     would sit on the lap of Elmer or Jack 
     
     Ferguson and take the reins as they 
     
     jogged Hurrah or Caledmzian Scott. He 
     
     fondly remembered the thrill and enjoy- 
     
     ment of these early experiences and he 
     
    
   
   
    
     still got the same rush when he got on his 
     
    
   
   
    
     Photo: Gail MacDonald 
     
    
   
   
    
     bike for a race at F lamboro or Woodbine. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In retrospect, Paul was appreciative to 
     
     have had a number of talented and expe— 
     
     rienced mentors during his early years in 
     
     the industry. He stated, “I started out 
     
     with Elmer Ferguson and then I used to 
     
     hang around a lot with Jack Ferguson. I 
     
     learned from Buddy Campbell. Garry 
     
     MacDonald and Earl Smith taught me a 
     
     lot when I was going up through the 
     
     ranks." He 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 Garry MacDonald was the first to 
     
     allow him to don his colors and warm :1 
     
     horse up on race nights. He received 
     
     invaluable experience and advice while 
     
     in the employ of Earl Smith. Paul 
     
     explained, “Some of these guys could do 
     
     some things better than others. I 
     
     admired all of them." 
     
    
   
   
    
     Paul was working with Earl Smith when 
     
     Earl moved his stable from the 
     
     Charlottetown Driving Park to Sackville 
     
     Downs in the early 1980s. Shortly after 
     
     this move, Earl and Ronnie Gass moved 
     
     to Montreal and they left Paul some hors- 
     
     es that good enough for 
     
     Montreal. This was Paul's first experi— 
     
    
   
   
    
     weren‘t 
     
    
   
   
    
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