Driver still hospitalized in spill at Meadowlands
June 20, 2010EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -Harness racing driver Richard Silverman remained in intensive care at a New Jersey hospital Saturday, one day after he was hurt in a spill at the Meadowlands Racetrack that injured three other drivers and unseated six overall.
Track officials said Silverman was receiving treatment for a concussion and broken ankle sustained Friday night.
They said Silverman's father, trainer Jerry Silverman, reported that his son's CT scans were negative, and said Richard Silverman had the presence to joke with Meadowlands racing analyst Bob Heyden on Saturday, saying: ``I had 10 drives scheduled tonight. I hate to miss out on them.''
The accident occurred early in the second race when Four Starzz Left stumbled to the ground, tossing George Brennan out of the cart. Silverman and fellow drivers Daniel Dube, Brian Sears, Eric Goodell and Ron Pierce were unseated in the chain reaction that followed.
Silverman, Dube and Pierce were all taken to the hospital. Sears went on to win the third race, but then opted off the rest of his drives and went to the hospital to be treated for a severe cut and swelling of his left arm. Brennan also later opted off the remainder of his drives, while Goodell returned for the rest of the card and got his 4,000th career win behind Answer The Bell in the final race of the night.
Pierce - who had a sore shoulder, though X-rays came back negative - and Sears resumed driving Saturday morning at the Meadowlands, then headed to Canada to drive in the eliminations for the North America Cup at Mohawk Raceway. Brennan and Goodell were both expected to drive Saturday at the Meadowlands.
Dube, 41, fractured vertebrae in his lower back and a bone in his right wrist, and received stitches in his left elbow and knees. He expected to be released from the hospital sometime Saturday night.
``I can't move much,'' Dube said. ``I don't remember anything about the accident.''
All six horses involved in the spill escaped serious injury, the track said.