Driver Louis-Philippe Roy had quite a week. It started on cloud nine, with his first victory as a professional at Hippodrome 3R last Tuesday, and ended in hospital on Sunday when he was thrown heavily to the ground in an accident that led to the eighth race at the Trois-Rivieres track being declared a no-contest.
“I got a serious concussion and can’t walk on my left ankle, though it isn’t broken,” Roy, 24, said Tuesday from his home in Mont-Joli. His parents, who were at the track, brought him home from hospital the same night.
Roy was tossed from the sulky of Iron Phil when a rival crossed over in front of him on the first turn of the race Sunday. He doesn’t remember much of what happened. He’d fallen once before on the regional circuit, but had been unharmed.
He has a much clearer recollection of driving four-year-old pacer MG Kudos to the big win five days earlier in a $4,000 pace. “I’d won a lot of races on the regional circuit, but it hadn’t happened in my first 20 or so races on a bigger track since getting my licence earlier this year,” he said. “It was a big relief.”
Roy, who works for Telus when he isn’t driving horses, said he plans to return to the sulky as soon as he feels ready, probably in a couple of weeks. “I’m anxious to come back. I was actually down for some drives today (at H3R) and I feel bad about missing them.”
Trot Insider will update this story with more information regarding the accident when it is received.
Please join Standardbred Canada in wishing all that were affected by the accident a speedy and complete recovery.
To view the harness racing results for Sunday at Hippodrome 3R, click the following link: Sunday Results – Hippodrome 3R.
(A Trot Insider exclusive by Paul Delean)