Last Saturday (Aug. 27) during the fifth race at Miami Fair, there was an accident at the beginning of the race that involved two drivers and two horses. 

The one driver, Blake Piwniuk, was visibly sore but finished the day of harness racing and listed is on the program for this upcoming Saturday (Sept. 3). The other driver, Donald Howlett, was rushed to hospital after the incident.

Scans indicated that Howlett suffered a broken femur along with a severely sprained ankle. He has undergone surgery for the broken femur at Bounty Trails Health Centre in Winkler, Man.

Howlett described the staff as “excellent” during his unfortunate visit. He will begin physiotherapy in the next couple of weeks and he will begin his journey to a full recovery. It’s expected he will be sidelined for at least four to six months. 

A winner of 554 races lifetime, Howlett posted outstanding numbers during the 2022 season. His summary stands as 25-21-14 from 68 starts with $90,831 in earnings and an impressive average of 0.607. In his past 10 seasons, his UDR average exceeded 0.600 on three occasions.

Both horses involved in the accident, All Speculation and Sparkthedragon, walked off the track on their own and they both are entered in for Miami Fair’s last day of racing. Those horses will face off once again in the fifth race.

Please join Standardbred Canada in wishing Don Howlett a full and speedy recovery.

(A Trot Insider exclusive by Trey Colbeck)