Alonzo McDonald

Alonzo 'Lon' McDonald (1862 – June 26, 1930) was an American harness racing driver and horse trainer.

Early life and education Alonzo McDonald was born in Malone, New York, United States, in 1862.

Career McDonald began working with horses as a horse groom for Orrin Partridge. While working under Partridge, a leading trainer and driver in Northern New York, McDonald learned the fundamentals of horse training and trained horses on a track at Brasher Falls, New York. By 1883, he was campaigning horses independently, driving Malone Patchen on the half-mile tracks at Malone, New York.

After his apprenticeship, he returned to Malone, New York and formed his own public stable. The New Yorker relocated his string of trotting horses to Boston, Massachusetts at Mystic Park in May 1897. For a number of years, his base of operations was the Readville Race Track. He recorded 38 wins during the 1899 season.

He was among the first to see the potential in Peter the Great as a sire. He was drawn to a filly from the stallion's early foals, bred at J. Malcolm Forbes' farm in Milton, Massachusetts, and asked to name her Sadie Mac after his daughter. Along with D. H. Sherman, he purchased Sadie Mac as a yearling from J. M. Johnson for $4,000. He never raced her at age two, though she showed strong speed in trial work. As a three-year-old under McDonald's guidance, she remained unbeaten in races, losing only a single heat before her sale. He sold her in 1903 to E. E. Smathers for $20,000. He continued to train and drive Sadie Mac, who went undefeated during her three-year-old campaign. He drove her to a victory in the 1903 Kentucky Futurity. She continued her success with McDonald in 1904 until her sudden death at the Charter Oak track in Hartford, Connecticut in 1905.

McDonald was the leading money-winning driver in 1908. His campaign included all 10 Grand Circuit meetings and Lexington, in addition to Peoria, Terre Haute, and Kalamazoo on the Great Western Circuit. That year, McDonald took over the training of the five-year-old Allen Winter and quickly developed him into a leading racehorse. He guided Allen Winter, owned by M. H. Reardon, to win the first-ever $50,000 American Trotting Derby at Readville, Boston on August 25, 1908. The win brought him the biggest purse in Grand Circuit history at the time.

He drove Miss De Forest to victory in the Horseman Futurity, Matron Stake, and Review Futurity for three-year-old pacers in 1911. In 1912, he had bought Star Winter for $15,000 on behalf of William G. Snell of New Bedford, then the second-highest price ever paid for a gelding. He was entrusted with the gelding's training for the Grand Circuit. By 1913, his Indianapolis stable also included Tom Horn, Billy Buff, Sox DeForest, Allerworthy, Lord Allen, Airdale, and Sarah Douglas.

Lon Mcdonald with McCloskey, 1915 In the spring of 1914, John L. Snyder sent him Ortolan Axworthy, whose sire was Axworthy. He guided the colt to capture the Western Horseman Stake at the Indiana State Fair. In addition, he won the 1914 Horseman Futurity for three-year-old trotters with Ortolan Axworthy. He later handled The Senator throughout his two-year-old campaign in 1922. With The Senator, he secured the 1923 Horseman Futurity Three-Year-Trot, his second win in the event, along with the Review Futurity.

The last horse he trained and drove was the bay colt, Calumet Bush, before his death in 1930. The Grand Circuit driver had a 45 year career.

Death Alonzo McDonald died on July 26, 1930 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Following a heart attack on the way to the North Randall Race Track, he was rushed to the St. Luke's Hospital by Thomas S. Berry, where he passed away several hours later.

Legacy He was noted among the Grand Circuit's Big Four, with Ed Geers, Thomas Murphy, and Walter R. Cox.

In 1958, he was elected into the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame.