One driver would win four races Friday at Cornerstone Raceway in Yorkton, while another topped three, but both efforts were overshadowed by the events of the one race neither won
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The Farrell Agencies feature was the third race on the card, and it was notable not for the win by David Cameron with Mackenzies Wish, but by the wreck around the second corner of the opening lap on the half-mile dirt track.
The accident sent drivers Edward Tracey and Robert Baxter to the dirt, leaving their drives, Just A Mark and G GS Dominator racing around the track dragging empty carts.
Both drivers were quickly to their feet waving they were all right, although Tracey would not be back in the seat, being taken to hospital to be checked out. Baxter would be back in the sulky in the next race, winning two more before the night was over.
Both horses were caught off-track and were back in their stalls after the race card.
Driver Kevin Siever was disqualified following the race.
"I didn't even see who it was until I was laying on the track," said Baxter after the last race.
Baxter said it all happened so quickly there was no time to react. "My cart went over Ed's horse [Just A Mark]," he said, adding he saw Tracey go one way. "I hit him head on with my bike."
Given the way the accident played out, he knew Tracey took the worst of it. "It seemed like I might have rattled his cage a little bit," he said.
While many drivers will be in an accident at some point if they drive regularly, Baxter said it was six years ago since he was thrown out of the cart. This time Baxter went right back out in the next race, adding he's never worried about going back in the cart after an accident.
"That's never phased me. It's just got to be done. You have to do it," he said, adding once you drive in behind the gate you have to think about the race ahead. "You can't think about it [the accident]. If you think about falling down, that's when you do fall down."
By the end of the night though, Baxter said he was starting to really feel the effects of the accident. "The last one [race eight] I was feeling it coming into the half mile turn. I was starting to stiffen up," he said.
Baxter would win the eighth with Bigtime Jackpot, to go with earlier wins with Imlosingyou and Jomars Undapants.
"The latest accident may leave Baxter sore, but it won't stop him from wanting to drive. I've always enjoyed it. I grew up doing it," he said, adding that after two-and-half years away from the sport to start a family he has enjoyed racing in Yorkton a couple of weekends this summer, adding he'll be back in 2012.
The big winners Friday were the combination of trainer Shawn Worthen and driver Kirk Rogers in his first action in Yorkton this year. The connection teamed for four wins, including Found My Desire, Barona Fivehundred, Oral Fixation, and O JS Boy.
Worthen said several factors accounted for the good showing Friday, including some harder work on the week preparing. "I wasn't winning as much as I wanted. I got frustrated and started working a little harder," he said, adding "and the horses drew good positions."
Worthen said he also had his horses slotted into appropriate classes, something he said is paramount to success. "You have to put them in where they belong," he said, adding if you don't do that you don't give your horses a fair chance to win.
And then there was the good drives of Rogers. "I asked Kirk last Saturday in Manitoba if he'd come up," said Worthen, adding having an experienced driver in the cart is always an asset. "We had a game plan."
The plan was relatively straight forward offered Worthen, to get clear and get to the front. Worthen said it was a night where everything fell into place, and that meant some nice wins. "It's good to see OJ [O JS Boy] win," he said, adding the seven-year-old gelding is a solid horse nearing the end of his career.
For results from Friday's harness racing card, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Yorkton Exhibition.
(Trot Insider exclusive by Calvin Daniels)