The highs and lows of harness racing were on display Sunday night at Rosecroft Raceway.
The imminent dangers of the sport escalated in a three-horse altercation that marred the seventh race Sunday night.
Drivers Eric Davis, Jason Thompson and Jared Moyer all suffered injuries to the upper body which saw all three visit local hospitals for treatment. All have been released and are recovering at home but will miss some time in the bike.
Davis’ Pop A Top Pop while in the outer flow went down, collected Moyer and Atomic Art, who was then run over by Thompson and Concert Artist who was following along the pylons. Davis was able to hobble over to the bumper of the Ambulance while Thompson was placed on a backboard after nearly 25 minutes and transported to a local hospital. While all three horses ended up loose, Atomic Art found his way back to his driver and the two rode off the racetrack together. All three horses suffered superficial wounds, but none were injured seriously.
INCIDENT RACE REPLAY – WARNING, POSSIBLY UPSETTING CONTENT
Davis and Moyer had posted victories on the Sunday night card as well.
The horsemen rallied behind the injured horsemen and their families over the rest of the card, led by Megan Roberts and Erica Hanley who picked up the pieces on behalf of those who left for the hospital and cared for their horses who remained behind.
The 13-race card was highlighted by some big payouts.
19-year old provisional driver Cole Olsen, had two wins on the card which provided a nice return on investments for his backers. Fox Valley Mondo, 7-2 on the morning line went off at 12-1 and Cool Your Heels, 6-1, on the ML, left the gate at 30-1 and returned a healthy $62 to win.
Leading driver Jonathan Roberts remained red hot, scoring three wins, including the featured Richard Adams Memorial Pace in 1:52 with Starship. The five year old son of Captaintreacherous, won for the second straight time at Rosecroft’s top level. Bib Roberts owns and trains the winner.
John Wagner scorched the stonedust with Mckenzie Kiel and Kristin Ramsey’s Derby Dog Hanover. A wire to wire score in 1:51 was good for his second win in 2022 and paid a pari mutuel puzzling $18.40.
The biggest head scratcher of the night came in race 10 where Always B Magic, a horse with wicked gate speed, down in class, wired the field for Frank Milby at 24-1. The horse was 3-1 on the morning line and had just won two starts back.
For full race results, click here.
From Rosecroft Raceway