Shortly after the accident on April 12 which left Bruce Ranger with a separated shoulder he thought he'd be back in action in 4-6 weeks
. After his latest doctor's visit on Monday, May 16, that will not be the case for the top driver of the current meet and in the 47-year history of harness racing at Pompano Park.
"I have to be patient now because this is kind of a hurry up and wait situation," Ranger says. "The doctor is pleased with my progress but has chosen not to operate because I'm over 50 years old. It all means I won't be able to come back as soon as I'd hoped to right after the accident.”
The spill which injured Ranger was with four-year-old pacing mare Stylish Soiree N. He blames himself, to some extent, for the mishap which occurred in the early strides of the race.
"It was really an uneventful start and we weren't going all that fast but I guess I grabbed onto her a little too hard." he recalls. "Fortunately I had the outside post position and the rest of the field was already long gone by the time I knew I was going to lose her. Fortunately I had time to react and I avoided going into the fence and a light standard. I wear a flak jacket and not very many of us do here at Pompano, but it could not save me from being hurt badly because of the way I went down hard on my shoulder. And for anyone that's ever had a separated shoulder, they know one of the worst aspects of it is trying to sleep. In addition to the throbbing pain, you just can't get comfortable and you have to sleep sitting up or only slightly reclining in a chair."
At the time of the accident, Ranger was in his customary position atop the Pompano drivers' standings with a 2011 slate of 97 wins from 527 drives for over $511,000 in purses. His driving purses have topped the $1 million plateau every year since 1998 and in this time of convalescence, Ranger is making the best of the situation. He explains he has a specially rigged shoulder harness which allows him to jog horses and help his stable's assistant trainer Stewart Nemiro in the mornings on the Pompano backstretch. With over 8,000 lifetime winning drives and over $32 million in driving purses to his credit, he paused to reflect on the racing accidents he's been involved with in his great career.
"Of the several mishaps I've been in, this one wasn't the worst in terms of broken bones," Ranger says. "Just over 20 years ago here at Pompano I was in a bad wreck with a horse named Poppy Jack. I had a broken nose, broken collarbone, and six broken ribs. But for pain, this shoulder separation is the worst. If I were a younger man I would have rushed right back to start driving horses again at the first possible time but I'm not going to rush it. I'm still at least two weeks from being able to start physiotherapy and I won't drive in a race again until the doctor says so. It's just a situation of dumb luck and I have to accept that the treatment is tincture of time."
(Pompano Park)