Rich Wojcio, who has won 3,632 races in his career for earnings of over $21 million, returns to action Friday night (August 13) after being away from the wars since January following a very scary spill.
 
The 49-year-old Wojcio suffered a concussion, broken left arm and facial injuries in that accident, and is happy to be back to work as the second half of this meeting gets under way.
 
“I don’t remember a thing about the race, just waking up and being all banged up,” he related.  “It’s the worst accident I’ve had in 34 years of driving, and I was just grateful that nobody else was hurt.”
 
Rich has been back at the track since early April, gradually building his strength back up.
 
“The healing process went pretty well, but I had to go to physical therapy for about seven weeks for what they call frozen shoulder, which means everything in that area had tightened up.”
 
Wojcio recorded the biggest win of his career in the late 1980s when he guided the pacing filly Hiding Place to victory in the Art Rooney at Yonkers, which was a $300,000 race at the time.  He moved his base to California late in 2003 and immediately became a mainstay of the local driver’s room.
 
Last weekend saw a series of matinee races to get both horses and drivers ready, and Rich came away with a quartet of victories.
 
“It felt good to be back in the bike,” he said.  “I was a little anxious for the first one, but after that it was just like I didn’t miss a day.  I want to thank everybody for their support, because it’s meant a lot to me.”
 Interestingly, one of Wojcio’s drives on Friday will be behind Calzone in the featured trot.  Like his pilot, the side-wheeler is making his initial evening foray in seven months.  Good luck to both.