Waples hurt in Mohawk spill

Monday is no happy birthday for driver Randy Waples, who suffered two broken hands, wrists and elbows in a race accident at Mohawk Racetrack Sunday night. Waples is celebrating his 41st birthday July 31 in a hospital and his wife, Angie, said she expects her husband to be "out for awhile."

"The hospital doesn't even have any beds open so he's still in the emergency room," Angie Waples told harnessracing.com Monday morning. "He broke both elbows, wrists and hands, and they are worried about the back of the neck and his soft tissue there. If that's OK, then I expect that they will send him home later today."

The accident happened in the final turn when a horse driven by Keith Oliver appeared to take a bad step and then fall to the track, setting off a chain reaction with the following horses driven by Waples and Jack Moiseyev.

All three drivers were thrown to the track, with Moiseyev and Oliver able to get up under their own power. All the horses involved appeared to have not suffered any serious injuries.

Waples has 4,258 career wins with purse earnings of more than $57 million.

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