SHAKOPEE, MN – Chase Clark celebrated his 25th birthday on June 28, in the midst of riding in his second season at Canterbury Park. He rode in Shakopee in 2016, and though he was sidelined last season by a foot injury, he was fourth in the rider standings having won six races in forty mounts and was hitting the board nearly half the time. He had gained the confidence of Bob Johnson, perennially near the top of the trainer standings at Canterbury, and was set to ride for him on Sunday in two of the biggest races of the season, the $78,450 Canterbury Derby and the $146,400 Mystic Lake Northlands Futurity.
Saturday’s card had to come first, however. He had finished second in the opener and was hoping to get a win in the third aboard Sheza Beautifuleagle, a 3-year old sorrel filly that was certainly in with a chance.
The Las Vegas native wasn’t anticipating any trouble heading to the gate for the $6,250 maiden claiming race.
“I rode her last out,” Clark said “And I wouldn’t call her rank at all, she’s just really energetic. We loaded and she was standing good. We actually left the gate good but she broke out a little bit and when I reached out to correct her that’s when I heard a loud pop, I looked down and my arm was just hanging there.”
The energetic filly then did what she was taught to do – she took off for the finish line 250 yards away with Clark aboard and only one good arm.
“Everybody has mentioned to me how amazed they are that I didn’t just pass out during the race,” Clark went on. “When I realized my arm was broken I tried to stand up on her a little bit to keep her from going all out and I wanted to try keep her straight so she wouldn’t bother anyone.
“The scary thing about it,” he said, “was that about half way down I knew I had to reach up and grab that left rein to make it around the turn after the finish line. When I went to reach up for the rein my arm didn’t move at all so I thought, ‘Well, I hope that someone helps me out here.'”
“After the finish line she started drifting out a bit because I couldn’t grab the left rein to get her around the turn,” Clark continued. “That’s when Samuel (Israel Suarez-Ricardo) came over from the seven hole and helped guide me through the turn and the outrider helped me pull her up. Once we got her stopped I hopped off.”
The teamwork from the other riders and the outrider helped save Clark from even more damage and kept the filly from being hurt at all.
“If it wasn’t for Mario helping me out through the turn I would have gone over the fence,” said a grateful Clark. “I really didn’t have any control.”
Clark was led over to the ambulance where he was checked out and then transported to St. Francis Hospital in Shakopee where he got the x-rays (right) confirming three breaks of the humerus bone in his left arm.
Clark will head back to Oklahoma, most likely today, where he will see his orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Brian Levings, and have surgery on Thursday.
“I texted him the x-ray and told him, ‘I know you’re on vacation but we have some work to do,'” said Clark. “He cut his vacation two days short so he could get me in on Thursday. He does a lot of riders. For us, he’s our go-to guy.”
Clark is likely to be sidelined for six months after the surgery, Levings telling him it was one of the worst breaks he’d ever seen. During his recuperation, Clark will apply for assistance through the Leg-Up Fund, a 501(c)3 non-profit that is in its fourth year and was formed with the intention of assisting jocks injured during the local race meet. When riders don’t ride, they don’t earn.
“I wish more tracks would do something like this,” said Clark. “Just living off the Jockeys Guild and whatever the track gives you, it’s not enough to get by. That additional money will really help.”
In case you were wondering, through it all, Clark managed to guide the filly to a third place finish, in contention the entire way.
