Marcus Johansson might not win Sunday’s $500,000 Colonial for three-year-old trotters with On The Tab at Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack, but the 32-year-old driver already feels like he’s hit it big
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“It feels like I hit the lottery, actually,” Johansson said Wednesday after being cleared to resume racing following his recovery from a ruptured spleen. Johansson was injured during a racing accident at the Meadowlands on July 1 and required emergency surgery at Hackensack Medical Center.
“My fingers have been itching a little bit,” he added about being anxious to return to work.
Prior to his accident, Johansson had eight wins in 49 races this season. He has won 524 races in his career.
“I went up to my surgeon [today] and he checked me out and made sure everything healed,” said Johansson, who is the son-in-law of trainer Jimmy Takter. “It is nice.”
Johansson’s recovery was quicker than projected, which delighted the driver.
“[The doctor] said at first three weeks bed rest and after 10 days I had to go back up [to Hackensack Medical Center] and take my stitches out,” Johansson said. “When I did, he said I’d healed very well. Then I could start walking and go back to a regular diet; eat anything I wanted. I guess I healed better than expected. I tried [jogging a horse] a few times and it felt good. No pain at all.
“I was going crazy on bed rest. There wasn’t much to do. I watched a lot of TV and I couldn’t get around that great either. Thank God we [Takter’s stable] raced a lot this summer, so I was watching a lot of races on the computer. It was a long day sometimes. I felt like I was in bed for a year.”
Johansson was On The Tab’s regular driver prior to being injured. The horse is trained by Takter. With Johansson in the sulky, On The Tab had five second-place finishes in six starts. Less than two weeks after Johansson’s injury, the colt notched his first and only victory of the season so far, winning the $573,770 Yonkers Trot.
Another Takter trainee, Hard Livin, is part of the eight-horse Colonial field, as well. The field is missing Hambletonian winner Muscle Massive, who is taking time off in preparation for the Canadian Trotting Classic, but includes the Hambletonian’s next four finishers: favourite Lucky Chucky, Wishing Stone, Pilgrims Taj and Temple Of Doom. Hard Livin was seventh in the race and On The Tab was ninth. Also in the Colonial is Cassis, who was the 5-2 second choice in the Hambletonian and finished eighth.
Lucky Chucky was beaten by a half-length in the Hambletonian in 1:51, which was the second-fastest time in the race’s history. He has won one of four races this year and is the Colonial field’s top earner, with $448,972.
Here is a look at the Colonial field in post position order with listed drivers and trainers:
1. Pilgrims Taj, Mike Lachance, Trond Smedshammer
2. Temple Of Doom, David Miller, Jonas Czernyson
3. Shaq Is Back, Ray Schnittker, Schnittker
4. Lucky Chucky, John Campbell, Chuck Sylvester
5. Hard Livin, Yannick Gingras, Jimmy Takter
6. Wishing Stone, George Brennan, Dewayne Minor
7. On The Tab, Marcus Johansson, Jimmy Takter
8. Cassis, Tim Tetrick, Ray Schnittker
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.