This sport is not for whimps!

It is often said that pound for pound jockeys are the strongest athletes there are. The sport of racing is not only about the physical strength, but about the mental toughness as well. You have to have a lot of heart to do what a jockey does day in and day out. On Friday night in a spill at Hawthorn Park 16 year old apprentice jockey Lyndie Wade was injured. He was knocked unconscious after being struck in the head at least once by trailing horses. Lyndie was rushed to the hospital where he was placed in a drug induced coma. The doctors found a small amount of bleeding on the brain. As of Saturday the bleeding appeared to have stopped and they expected him to wake up on Sunday. It does not appear as though there will be any long term affects. This is where it gets tough. A true jockey sees nothing else but getting back to work and riding horses. Having gone through a similar yet much more serious accident I am fairly confident that the first thing he will think of when he opens his eyes is when can I ride again. Wade is Currently 6th in the standings at Hawthorn. Randy Meier was also injured with a broken humerus bone. The broken arm will need to under go surgery and will sideline him for unspecified time. The meets leading rider Tim Thorton was injured in another race Friday night when he was unseated from his mount and suffered a collapsed lung. Tim will likely make his return on Wednesday or Thursday. Like I said this sport is not for wimps. Can you imagine having a collapsed lung on Friday and going back to work on Wednesday? In a jockeys mind the next race is all that matters.