Ranger escapes mishap at isle pompano
May 17, 2008,by Steve Wolf, Senior Director Racing Operations, the isle casino & racing pompano park
Pompano Beach, Fla — Right before the start of the second race pace, Ranger was preparing to leave from post six with Ignite My Fire when the right line broke. Within seconds after the start of the race Ranger was able to slip his legs out from the racebike and then held on to the racebike seat as his feet dragged on the track. Ranger held the position as the field started to pull away and then let go, dropping to the track surface.
Ranger, 48, was able to walk away from the incident with just a few bruises and torn driving colors. Ignite My Fire ended up hooking wheels with Grandioseurofightr but both horses escaped with only minor scrapes.
“I’m too old to try and ride it out anymore so I just bailed out.” Ranger said with a laugh. “The right line just snapped off and I knew I had to get out of the bike because it was the start of the race. I hung on a little longer than I wanted to because I saw that the broken line was wrapped around my leg, but once it cleared away I just dropped off and everything was fine. I had this happen once before and I did the same thing so I knew right away to get out of the bike.”
The accident did not slow Ranger down as he was back in the sulky for the very next race and drove I’m In Luck ($4.20) to a 1:51.2 victory in the $12,000 Winners-Over feature pace.
Owned by the Pine Vue Stables of Palm Beach Gardens, it was the fifth win this year for I’m In Luck. Mike Deters trains the 7-year-old gelding by Camluck.