It was a seemingly perfect ending to 2009 for Mike Lloyd, a respected veteran horsemen who had just watched his homebred filly end her first year racing in style. But in a matter of seconds, all that changed
.
Savvy Savvy, now a four-year-old daughter of Million Dollar Cam, had won the 10th race on Woodbine's New Years Eve program, and Lloyd, her owner and trainer, had walked her over to the track's test barn. Accompanied by his wife, Jenny Burgess, the pair proceeded to remove the horse's harness and bandages, working together to expedite the task at hand.
We were on opposite sides of the horse, bent over low taking off her hind bandages," recalled Burgess. "She's somewhat of a sensitive filly, and still very green, this having been only her sixth lifetime start. 'Savvy's policy has always been, 'When in doubt, kick out.' We don't know why she did it, perhaps one of the bandages pulled on her hair and she was scared, but for whatever reason she kicked out and caught Mike in the head."
Lloyd was flung through the air, his head hitting the cinderblock wall of the wash-stall.
"I knew he had been kicked, but I was hoping she had struck him in the shoulder," remembered Burgess. "It wasn't the kick that injured him, but it was when he made contact with the wall. He was unconscious and he didn't seem to be breathing. Everything had happened so quickly. The first thing you want to do is try and remain calm."
Emergency Medical Staff (EMS), parked in an ambulance just outside the barn, was able to get to Lloyd within a minute.
"You are asked to step aside and they take over," said Burgess. "They did a fabulous job."
The 59-year-old Lloyd was taken directly to Sunnybrook Hospital from Woodbine where Burgess was informed her husband had suffered a skull fracture. While the information she was originally given was limited, the good news was that decompression surgery (a procedure to relieve the symptoms caused by compression of a nerve by an artery or vein) wasn't required.
Still, there were other concerns.
"There was some worry that there could be a spinal cord injury," said Burgess. "Obviously, the main thing is that he had survived."
Four days after the accident, the couple had their first conversation about the incident.
"He asked what had happened and I told him all about it," recalled Burgess. "I said, 'I'm sorry, but Savvy kicked you. He just looked at me, shook his head, and said, 'No, I don't think so. Savvy wouldn't do that to me.'"
Lloyd is currently at Lyndhurst, a specialized adult rehabilitation and complex continuing care hospital. It's the same facility Canadian-born jockey Julia Brimo is currently at, recovering from injuries she suffered in a spill at Keeneland Racetrack in Kentucky on October 30.
He'll spend three more weeks at Lyndhurst before coming home and then undergoing hours of rehabilitation.
"He has a spinal cord lesion and the key now is to work on Mike getting his right arm and hand strength back."
Lloyd, however, has other aspirations.
"If he had his way, he'd be back shoeing horses and doing what trainers do," offered Burgess. "He loves what he does and he misses it."
And he doesn't hold any ill will towards Savvy Savvy.
"He blames himself," said Burgess. "He figures he should have done things differently. But it's just one of those things that happen."
"We are very proud of the quick response by the Test Barn staff, Security and EMS that night," said Bruce Murray, WEG's vice president of Standardbred Racing. "We hope Mike continues to make a full recovery and is able to get back to what he loves doing as soon as possible."
Burgess is grateful to have received such widespread support from so many.
"We were lucky to have short-term disability coverage available through Standardbred Canada and that OHHA (Ontario Harness Horse Association) has offered to match 50 per cent of that. Thankfully, we had a lot of good people, including the staff at Woodbine, step up and help us that night."
(WEG)