Some say luck comes in 'three's. Given the case of Gilles Barrieau, who sustained significant injuries from the last two incidents he was involved in, onlookers at Fredericton Raceway on Monday (July 2) held their collective breath when the accomplished horseman was ejected from his racebike.
The 47-year-old endured another round of bad luck when he was dumped in the accident, which involved one of his pupils, Ruby Vance. Barrieau, a resident of St. John, New Brunswick, was lining his three-year-old Articulator filly up behind the pole position for Race 5 when the bay started putting in steps and broke stride.
"My horse made a break behind the gate and the starter didn't have enough time to indicate a recall in time," Barrieau told Trot Insider. "I had the rail, and at Fredericton they go six on the gate and the rest are trailers.
"My horse was on the run and the horse and driver behind us tried to avoid us. He almost avoided us completely, but we ended up locking wheels and I got dumped out. I landed on my wrists and also landed on my head harder than I ever have. My wrists are pretty swollen and I'm a little banged up, but, everything considered, I could be a heck of a lot worse-off right now."
Given that Barrieau just returned to pari-mutuel action in late-April, the fact that his injuries don't appear to be severe this time around are a blessing. On October 2, 2011 at Truro Raceway, Barrieau was involved in a racing accident which saw him break his left wrist in two places. He also suffered a total of five breaks to his pinky and ring fingers in the crash.
After having recovered from the Truro crash, Barrieau, who was on the cusp of a return to the races, was then kicked by a yearling in a stable incident at Exhibition Park Raceway on November 23, 2011. Barrieau suffered a broken femur (leg) in the incident, which put him on the shelf once again.
"It's frustrating and was just one of those freak things," Barrieau told Trot Insider about his most recent spill, "but with a tight track and trailers in behind it is one of those things that can happen every once in a while."
Barrieau, whose racing-rich family was the subject of a May 2012 Trot Magazine article titled 'Deeply Rooted,' told Trot Insider that he is recuperating for the next couple of days and is hoping to not miss too much time.
"I'm nursing it (his injuries) right now and have put myself down to race this coming weekend, so hopefully the rest of the week goes smoothly and everything will be in order by the weekend."