Serious injury unlikely

Hopes are high that harness racing driver Sam Ottley may have escaped serious injury after a nasty crash at Methven on Sunday. Ottley was flown to Christchurch hospital by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter after a smash in race six with moderate spinal injuries. Her partner, and fellow driver, Stevie Golding confirmed Ottley was feeling sore from the way she had landed on her lower back and was having X-rays on Sunday night but the outlook was positive. Horses and drivers splayed across the Mid-Canterbury track after the crash. Race leader Emmanuel, driven by Natalie Rasmussen, slipped just after the field rounded the home bend which brought down Gabby’s Star, Maximus Prime and Stoney Eyre who had nowhere to go. Rasmussen and Gabby’s Star’s driver Robbie Holmes were flung to the ground as was Bob Butt when Stoney Eyre ran into the melee of fallen horses. Maximus Prime and Ottley were next on the scene and, with no time to react, smashed into the fallen runners at speed. As her horse fell, Ottley was catapulted into the air and over her fallen horse before landing on her lower back. She was treated on track before being airlifted to hospital. In an impressive piece of horsemanship, Terry Chmiel, managed to miss the fall with his drive Hotdiggettycullen and then catch the driverless Emmanuel. Rasmussen was battered and bruised after cartwheeling to the ground and having sulkies and horses going over the top of her but was cleared to continue driving and went on to win the Methven Cup with Messini. Sunday was Ottley’s second spectacular smash in just over 18 months, she also escaped injury when her drive Glencarrigh fell at Westport in March 2014.