Hall of Famer to qualify

Hall of Fame driver John Campbell said Monday morning that he plans on returning to the sulky Thursday morning in qualifiers at the Meadowlands after being out of action since last October after severely breaking a leg in an at-the-finish-line spill in a Breeders Crown elimination at Woodbine.

“I was really happy the way it felt training the other day. I had no problem in the bike at all,” Campbell told harnessracing.com. “I was very optimistic after training some at Magical Acres for Chuck Sylvester and Noel Daley. I will train some for my brother Jim on Wednesday and then qualify Thursday and the following Thursday. Then I’ll go back to work the weekend of April 5th and 6th.”

Campbell won a Breeders Crown elimination Oct. 21 with the 2-year-old colt pacer Artzina and then the following race in a Crown elim for 3-year-old colt pacers he crossed the wire eighth with Scootin Delight. However, right after the finish line Scootin Delight and Campbell tumbled over a fallen Shark Gesture, who had been run into by Total Truth. Total Truth’s driver, Ron Pierce, received a 10-day suspension for causing the spill.

The accident resulted in the death of Scootin Delight and Campbell severely breaking his right leg, ending his eventual Driver of the Year season with 183 victories and $8.79 million in purse earnings.

“I’m looking forward to (driving again),” says Campbell. “Most of the winter I wasn’t that antsy because I didn’t feel well enough to even think about it, but I had another scope on the 10th of March and it has really come much quicker since I had that scope done. I’m really happy with it right now.

“I’m close enough but I’ve got a bit of a limp. I actually have more problems with my ankle than my knee right now. I sprained it real bad when I landed and nobody really cared about it at the time because I had so many broken bones but it’s been a little slower to get where it doesn’t hurt to walk.”

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