Douglas undergoes spinal surgery after spill

CHICAGO - The jockey Rene Douglas was undergoing marathon surgery Sunday morning to try to repair two compressed vertebrae in his back. Douglas was injured Saturday in an ugly one-horse spill in the Arlington Matron Handicap when his mount, Born to Be, fell and rolled onto the rider.

Surgery began at 2:30 Sunday morning and was expected to be completed around noon, according to Douglas's agent, Dennis Cooper.

"His regular doctor talked to me about 6 and said he still had six hours left," Cooper said.

Douglas, 42, is at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago, where he was moved after initially being taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights. Cooper said that even after the surgery was complete, Douglas's prognosis would remain uncertain for 10 to 14 days, according to doctors. Besides the compressed vertebrae, Douglas has "issues in his neck" as well as lesser injuries like broken ribs, Cooper said.

Douglas originally had been scheduled for surgery at 11 Saturday night, but the procedure was delayed while further tests were performed. Douglas was placed in an induced coma earlier on Saturday night but was awakened to see his wife before going into surgery, Cooper said.

Douglas was conscious and able to speak before first being sedated, Cooper said Arlington vice president Bill Thayer had told him. Douglas was able to move his arms but apparently had experienced some degree of paralysis after the fall. Cooper said earlier in the night that Douglas could feel his feet and was able to feel pain in his back and arm.

In the Matron, Douglas wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Born to Be raced just in behind the lead pack and appeared to be running evenly when she turned into the stretch. Born to Be was about two paths off the rail when jockey Jamie Theriot on rail-skimming Sky Mom tried to go through a hole between Born to Be and eventual winner Euphony. Sky Mom bumped Born to Be, who was pushed out and clipped heels with tiring pace-setter Boudoir. Born to Be completely lost her footing, fell, and flipped over, rolling onto Douglas, who remained pinned beneath the horse until being extricated by track personnel.

Born to Be also might have hurt her back, trainer Eric Coatrieux said Saturday evening, and her condition was uncertain. Coatrieux said the horse had tried to stand up and had to be sedated in the horse ambulance, but once at Arlington's detention barn, the filly appeared unable to stand

Douglas could be paralyzed after spill

CHICAGO - Jockey Rene Douglas could be paralyzed from the waist down because of a back injury sustained in a spill Saturday at Arlington Park.

Douglas, 42, underwent seven hours of back surgery Sunday morning at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago, from 2:30 to 9:30, according to his agent, Dennis Cooper. Douglas had not awoken from anesthesia as of 2 p.m. Central time Sunday afternoon, but Dr. Hilton Gordon, Douglas's regular doctor, told Cooper that Douglas appeared to be paralyzed in his lower body.

"He told me straight up they don't think he'll walk again," Cooper said. "He'll be able to use his upper-body. Still, no matter good or bad today, it'll be 10 days to two weeks before they'll know for sure. I wouldn't bet against him."

Cooper said Douglas was expected to remain in intensive care for two weeks before being moved from a trauma unit to a nearby rehabilitation center.

Shelly Goudreau was an honest horseman with unmistakable skill and passion for the sport of standardbred racing. His spectacular success as one of the top trainer/drivers in North America was founded in his boyhood at the side of his father, Fred Goudreau of Dresden, Ont., an experienced horseman.

Licensed as a driver at 18 years of age in 1966, he made a youthful local reputation that widened quickly when he led drivers at Windsor in successive meetings, setting a record for wins at the border track.

Moving daringly across the continent to the West Coast circuit in 1977, he was soon the darling of the California fans. In his two seasons on the Hollywood Park/Los Alamitos scene, Goudreau promptly won both the win-total and money earnings titles on the circuit. When he came back east to The Meadowlands he once again found remarkable success, attaining over $2 million in earnings. In 1981 Goudreau celebrated his best season in the bike, winning 170 races and earnings of $2.3 million.

On August 27, 1982, while driving in a race at Hollywood Park, Goudreau suffered severe injuries. Six days later, on September 2, Goudreau died. He was only 34 years old.

At the time of his death he was eighth in North American driver's standings. Shelly Goudreau is remembered as a tremendous horseman, but more importantly, to those who had the opportunity to meet him, he is remembered as a great person.

Douglas remains paralyzed in lower legs

CHICAGO - Jockey Rene Douglas, injured badly in a spill Saturday at Arlington Park, underwent what was termed successful surgery to repair back and neck injuries early Sunday morning at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. But Douglas remained paralyzed in the lower part of his legs, the long-term repercussions of his injuries may not be known for two weeks, and Douglas's prognosis is day-to-day, according to Doreen Razo.

Razo, the wife of jockey Eddie Razo, and a good friend of Douglas's wife, Natalie, was at both Northwest Hospital in Arlington Heights, to which Douglas was taken after going down in the Arlington Matron, and with him at Northwestern, where the surgery was performed between 2:30 and 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

Douglas responded well after coming out of sedation following his surgery Sunday afternoon, said Razo, and squeezed hands with others in his intensive-care-unit room when prompted to do so. Douglas is fitted with a breathing tube because of several broken ribs, and so cannot speak. But Razo said Douglas was "as responsive as they wanted him to be" when assessed by medical personnel after his surgery before being sedated again Sunday night.

The surgery, which required an incision from neck to buttocks, took seven hours, but had been expected to last as much as 2 1/2 hours longer. Screws were inserted to stabilize two fractures in vertebrae at Douglas's neck; that injury is serious, but it was Douglas's other spinal injury, to the thoracic discs lower on his spine, that is the more consequential. Razo said that Douglas had compressed the T-5 and T-6 vertebrae in his back.

"The T-5 got jammed into the T-6, and that put pressure on the spinal cord," Razo said.

With three doctors present during the surgery, the vertebrae were decompressed and then fused. This procedure was deemed successful, but until inflammation and trauma to the area subside, long-term assessment remains difficult. Douglas will spend two weeks in the ICU before being transferred to a Northwestern rehabilitation clinic.

Douglas went down at the top of the Arlington homestretch while riding Born to Be in the Matron, race 9 of 11 Saturday at Arlington. Racing just in behind the lead pack, Born to Be appeared to be running evenly or tiring when she turned into the stretch. She was about two paths off the rail when jockey Jamie Theriot on rail-skimming Sky Mom swung out and tried to go through a hole between Born to Be and eventual winner Euphony. Sky Mom bumped Born to Be, who was pushed out and clipped heels with tiring pacesetter Boudoir. Born to Be completely lost her footing, fell, and flipped over, rolling onto Douglas, who remained pinned beneath the horse until being extricated by track personnel.

Douglas weaned from ventilator machine

CHICAGO - Injured jockey Rene Douglas is breathing on his own after having been taken off a ventilator machine but still has not regained feeling in his legs after suffering an injury to his spinal cord in a one-horse spill May 23 at Arlington.

Doreen Razo, wife of jockey Eddie Razo, and a close friend of Douglas's wife, Natalie, said the breathing apparatus was removed from Douglas at 4:30 on Monday by medical staff at the trauma unit of Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. So, for the first time since his accident, Douglas can speak.

"His request was for ice cream or Jell-O," said Razo, who has been to Northwestern nearly every day since Douglas was moved there from Northwest Community Hospital near Arlington the evening he was hurt.

Douglas is "still in a little bit of pain," Razo reported, but is being weaned from pain medications. He also has recovered from a case of pneumonia contracted after a seven-hour surgery was performed to repair fractures in vertebrae near Douglas's neck, and to decompress and fuse the T-5 and T-6 vertabrae lower on his spine. It was the latter injury that affected the spinal cord and caused paralysis. Doctors told Mrs. Douglas that it could take up to two weeks to fairly evaluate the long-term consequences of the spinal injury. Now that Douglas can communicate verbally, medical staff can find out more directly "what he can and can't feel," Razo said.

Douglas was hurt in the Arlington Matron stakes when his mount, Born to Be, was jostled and pushed out by the filly Sky Mom at the top of the Arlington homestretch. Born to Be lurched outward, clipped heels with tiring pacesetter Boudoir, and fell violently, rolling over onto Douglas. Jockey Jamie Theriot currently is serving a 30-day suspension for his actions aboard Sky Mom.