Middleton On The Road To Recovery

Trot Insider has learned that Ken Middleton, track announcer at Woodbine Mohawk Park for more than a decade, has been sidelined following a surgery required to correct an injury received from a car accident two years ago.

“[The accident] was just one of those things that -- it happened quite awhile ago but then it took a while for it to surface -- that it was a problem,” Middleton said. “Then when it did surface it deteriorated pretty rapidly. It’s a slow process getting into surgery...it took me a year to realize it was something that required surgery.

“Right after the car accident I knew there was something wrong with my shoulder. The doctor just said to go to physiotherapy...you likely strained something. I went to physio for a year and it never got better. It alleviated some of the pain just for the different things they were using -- laser therapy, shockwave, regular chiropractic adjustments.

Middleton tore a muscle in his right rotator cuff in the accident, which, untreated, caused him to experience pain in his elbow as well as lose feeling in his fingers.

“You grab the steering wheel; you tense up...something obviously gave way then,” Middleton said. “It just kind of went downhill from there.

“I asked my surgeon if this would be related to what was going on in my elbow and my fingers and he said ‘Yes, that’s what’ll happen. Over time it’ll just migrate to different parts of your arm.’ I was losing strength...I had a hard time lifting my right arm over my shoulder.”

The surgery to repair Middleton’s rotator cuff occurred in early November. Middleton said that his hospital visit, which was supposed to be an in-and-out type deal, dragged long as a result of a beta blocker not working.

“It took me a long time to come out of recovery from anesthesia because of that,” Middleton said. “Because I was in so much pain, when I woke up from the anesthesia, I should’ve been out of the hospital by noon and I didn’t get out until seven at night. I couldn’t stand up—I tried because I was so sick of sitting in that bed but I just couldn’t get my wits about me to stand up and even go to the bathroom. It took more IV-administered pain killers to get me to the point where I was able to stand up and start to get my mobility back.”

Despite the ongoing pain and resulting disruptive sleep, Middleton put off surgery until the winter months to avoid congesting the already busy channels working during the summer stakes season at Mohawk.

“If I would’ve had the surgery in the summer time, in the heat of stakes season, it’s not very good because everybody’s pushed to the limit in the summer,” Middleton said. “I was conscious of that and I just pushed it back a little bit further. We’ve got two great guys who can fill in with Mark [McKelvie] and Chad [Rozema]. They’re both versatile guys and great to have on staff.”

Recovery from the surgery should keep Middleton off work for a couple of weeks as he begins physiotherapy. While on rest, Middleton has a crew tending to his stable which, earlier this year, collected its first win.

Ken Middleton (centre) made the journey from caller's box to winner's circle, harnessing Shadowofthenorth to a debut victory

“That’s racing; the highs and lows. That was a high,” Middleton said of his first training win. “The rest of the year for that horse unfortunately didn’t pan out all that well but we’re hopeful he can come back and have a good three-year-old year. But that was awesome -- it’s always awesome when you go to a yearling sale and buy a horse that’s never had a harness on. It’s one thing when you train them down and get them to a certain point and it’s even more amazing when you win.”

Middleton manages a stable of two weanlings, two broodmares and three racehorses. Because of his injury he decided not to purchase more stock when attending the 2018 London Selected Yearling Sale.

“It wasn’t fair because I was already putting that work into other people’s hands so it wouldn’t be fair to add to it,” Middleton said. “It was hard going to the London Sale and seeing all of those yearlings because I love going around and looking at them and researching them. It broke my heart not being able to get one but the responsible thing to do was keep my hand down and get healthy.

“I’d like to have a place for a couple of broodmares some foals and stuff like that,” Middleton also said. “I’ve really enjoyed learning about that; I’ve had some good people to lean on like Tammy McNiven, Darlene Hayes and people like that have helped me immensely. It was quite an experience: last year was the first year our mares had foals and those are the first two yearlings we bought that are now our first two broodmares. It’s cool to see things come full circle.”

Middleton’s days consist mostly of recuperation and watching harness racing on nights when friends have horses racing or on major stakes nights, finding that a balance
while on the mend that he feels is necessary to eventually get himself back to work.

“Bottom line is I’d like to still be doing what I was doing before my surgery,” Middleton said. “I’d like to be at the barn in the morning and stuff because I miss that and my job. [You] just have to realize your limitations and get better.”