Mac Robertson has been an outstanding thoroughbred trainer at Canterbury Park since 1995. He is currently Canterbury’s leading trainer and was champion trainer for nine consecutive years from 2005 to 2013. He was inducted into the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame in 2011 and is the all-time leader in purse earnings at Canterbury.
His first career victory came in his first year of training in 1994 at Ak-Sar-Ben Racetrack in Omaha, Nebraska. Earlier this year, in his 22nd year of training, Robertson won his 1,000th career race with the horse Thunder and Honey. The multiple graded stakes-winning trainer achieved this milestone in the 4,412th start of his career. He has earned more than $24 million in purse money for his owners.
Mac has also been prominent throughout the history of the Minnesota Festival of Champions and is the leading thoroughbred trainer with 26 wins. The 2016 Festival is this Sunday, Aug. 21.
Some of Mac’s Festival winners include Sir Tricky, Tubby Time, Coconino Slim, A P Is Loose, Heliskier and Bella Notte. “I don’t have as much depth for the Festival this year as I have in the past,” he said. “But you don’t need depth if you have the best horse and I think I have the best horse in a few races.”
Robertson has been involved in the racing industry all his life since his father was a trainer at Penn National Race Course. When Robertson was 12 he started working for his father as an assistant trainer. After working for his dad, he worked for other trainers for a couple of years until he decided to go on his own.
While it may appear to some that Mac is always at the track, he does have other interests. “I like to fish and watch competitive sports, whether it be tennis, swimming, or anything,” he said. “I like collegiate sports over professional sports because I know I’m getting 100% from the participants.”
