Just the right tonic for Paul

Not a day goes by when popular Adelaide horseman Paul Cavallaro isn't reminded of the serious injuries he copped in a sickening harness racing crash nearly 12 months ago.

"I've certainly got aches and pains that I didn't have-but I'm still alive and our good horse (Culture King) come through it all okay," he said.

And Culture King's runaway performance at his NSW debut at Goulburn on Sunday would have been just the tonic for the recovering Cavallaro.

Culture King was sent north by Cavallaro and his owners (the Ready to Run Syndicate) to chase the riches on offer in that State over the next few months, in particular, the inaugural NSW $1 million pace at the end of May.

Culture King is now under the care of Craig Cross and Luke McCarthy at Cobbitty.

"He's a lovely horse – he went super in winning at Goulburn," McCarthy said.

"They went 1.57 but he did it so easy – and there's been a bit of a change of plans for him as a result. He'll now be aimed at the Chariots of Fire next month at Menangle," he said.

The emerging potential of Culture King has no doubt given Cavallaro a kick along in his return to training after the injury.

"I'm at the stables most days. However, I'm more or less just doing light duties. I don't know if I'll ever return to race driving, but I'm not really fussed if I do or I don't," he said.

The race accident happened on Group 3 South Australian Pacing Derby night of February 9 last year. I'm Sir Blake, driven by star reinswoman Danielle Hill veered out sharply in the straight with a lap to go after it choked down and crashed into Major Exclusive (Darby McGuigan). Cavallaro, driving Culture King, was left with nowhere to go, resulting in a horrific pile-up. He was catapulted into the air before landing heavily on the track.

Cavallaro was rushed to hospital with a fractured vertebra in his back, broken wrist and severe facial injuries, including a broken nose and lacerations. McGuigan was fortunate to escape injury, but Hill was also admitted to hospital with a badly fractured tibia. Remarkably, she returned to race driving in July and has been consistently in the winner's circle ever since, despite on occasions still feeling the injury to her knee and leg.

Paul Cavallaro on HRSA’s Mobile Rolling recently (Watch the interview below)

Cavallaro said that in the past nine months, he had been operated on six times.

"I had a gaping hole in my face. My mouth was ripped halfway across my cheek in the fall. The first lot of face surgery just before Christmas didn't go all that well," he said.

"The stitches dissolved early after just a few days, so I had to have more surgery, which was under local anaesthetic this time.

"I felt fine afterwards when I was loaded with pain-killers. But when they wore off, I have never felt so much pain in my whole life."

Cavallaro said that while his back was on the mend, he couldn't say the same about his wrist.

"I don't think it will ever be the same again. It becomes quite painful because it's sort of bone on bone," he said.

Watch an interview with Paul Cavallaro on HRSA's Mobile Rolling program.

Cavallaro trains a small team with a number of helpers.

"I've got Culture King's full brother, who is two, and he's in work and goes along okay. There's another two-year-old here, sired by Art Major, and a racehorse in Miss Iconic who is only lightly raced, but has a win and a few placings," he said.

"Mark Billinger is doing the driving for me at the moment and he does a top job."

Cavallaro is a member of a strong harness racing family, with his father Neil being most successful over many years. His sister Angela (Chapman) is also involved and recently won at Kapunda with brown mare Sally MacLennane, prepared by her father.

Terry Gange

NewsAlert PR Mildura