Macdonald (Mac) Benson

2009 Record: (48-8-4-6)

2009 Earnings: $519,927

2009 Win %: 16% In-The-Money %: 37%

Born: Dec. 12, 1930 in Wilmington, Del.
Residence: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Family: Married to Barb Przedrzymirska, his assistant and exercise rider
Racing Career: Took out his trainer’s license in 1958 and was initially employed by William du Pont’s Foxcatcher Farm … Ran a public stable in Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware until the mid-1970s … In 1976, he began conditioning horses for Windfields Farms, owned by Canadian racing scion E.P. Taylor. He arrived at Woodbine in 1978 to serve as the farm's exclusive Ontario trainer and had arguably the greatest first year of conditioning Thoroughbreds in Canada ever for a trainer. He won the Queen’s Plate that year for Taylor with Regal Embrace, who upset Overskate. It was Taylor’s first victory in the Queen’s Plate since Northern Dancer in 1964 … Benson's second Queen’s Plate upset came in 1985 when La Lorgnette, owned by Windfields, defeated odds-on favorite Imperial Choice, becoming just the second filly to that time to win both the Canadian Oaks and Queen's Plate … Also conditioned Sovereign Award winners Choral Group (champion 2-year-old filly of 1981); Bounding Away (turf champion in 1984); Legarto (2-year-old filly of 1988); Deputy Jane West (champion 2-year-old filly of 1992 and champion 3-year-old filly of 1993); Santa Amelia (champion older filly or mare of 1998), Inish Glora (champion turf female of 2003 and 2004), and Arravale (Horse of the Year and champion turf female of 2006) … Additional stakes winners include Silver Deputy, Bristol Pistol, Allende, Hagley's Quest, Alexis, Hot Pepper Hill, Social Director, Heretic, Canadian Envoy, Tarage, Classic Result, Autumn Slew, Quiet Dare and Classic Threat … Was inducted into the Canadian Racing Hall of Fame in 2002 … Inish Glora broke her pelvis in 2003 when she was five years old, but under Benson's care was able to make it back to the races and she won three of six starts, including the Canadian Handicap. When the Costigans accepted her Sovereign Award as the champion turf mare at year's end, they gave all the credit to her trainer ... Benson's main client is George Strawbridge (Augustin Stable), and he currently has 12 horses in his shedrow … Arravale, who captured the Del Mar Oaks and Alywow Stakes in 2006 on her way to being named Canada's Horse of the Year, suffered an injury in 2007 that set back her campaign, but is on target to make the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. "We haven't had the preparation time for the Breeders' Cup that we would have liked because she popped a splint early in the spring and it took all summer to get it straightened out," Benson said. "But the distance of this race is to her favor and we're hoping for the best." ... The filly, Benson's first Breeders' Cup starter, finished seventh.