By Shane Bernard

There’s been a lot written about Marc Campbell – recently and throughout the year – by yours truly and everyone else. This column might sound like a broken record but “The Year of Campbell” continues, with his recent record-breaking day at the Charlottetown Driving Park and also, an O’Brien award nomination!
Campbell broke the dash-win record for a single year at the Red Shores Charlottetown, with a driving triple, on Saturday, December 10. A catch-drive win with Armbro Dandelion equalled the record, and then his victory with Kathy Furness’s Zanzibar became the record breaker. The win total now stands at 120, with three more 2011 race cards left to add to that record. He broke a 24-year-record held by former CDP kingpin Paul MacDonald.
In a trackside interview after breaking the record, Campbell recalled driving one for MacDonald a few years back. MacDonald told him to “roll ‘em” and Campbell said, “I’ve been rolling ‘em ever since, just like Paul used to.”
It’s hard to believe MacDonald has been gone for three years. It’s true though. The CDP is not the same without “Dinger.” Someone recently said that they didn’t realize how much they missed the guy until “the torture” stopped. MacDonald had a great sense of humour and could be pretty torturous with the humour at times. I know. I used to get lots of it, but along with the torture, MacDonald had a big heart. He gave me one of the most ringing and surprising endorsements about my driving ability when I was younger. It was quite shocking – the source of the endorsement – and I learned not to take him too seriously after that. There’s nothing better for a young person in the horse business than to be acknowledged by the best.
The top winning trainer at the CDP going into the final few cards of the year is Jackie Matheson. He has a four-win lead over Campbell and he’s close to the top in the percentage category as well.
Jackie and father Ronnie had a trainer/driver double on the December 3rd card. They won with steady, claiming horse Keystone Dimitri and took the feature with Oakrock Almighty in 1:57.2. The feature victory was another patented, passing lane victory for Ronnie. They used to call Ronnie’s mentor, Joe Hennessey, “Two Hole” for his constant positioning in “the pocket.” Ronnie has taken the two-hole bit to another level over the years. Joe never had a passing lane in his day, so he must have got caught in at times. Ronnie always finds daylight with his pocket trips and no one gets them to sneak up the inside any better.
There’s an annual award by the PEISHOA for the top percentage driver as well and that one is a neck-and-neck battle between Mike Stevenson and Marc Campbell. It will probably be determined in the final race card of the year on New Year’s Eve.
A new year and season will be upon us by the time our next edition goes to print. Now is a time to reflect and make new resolutions for the coming year. Personally, I’ve had the worst and best days of my driving career within a span of four months. My goal for 2012 is to stay out of the ambulances and spend more time in the winner’s circle. Ha ha. It’s been another great year of racing on PEI and beyond for our Island harness racing people.
Merry Christmas everybody and all the best to you in 2012. Take care, accentuate the positive and always remember that no matter how bad a day or time you have in life, tomorrow’s a new day and another fresh start.