(from Calder release)
Former jockey Gary Boulanger saddled his first horse as a trainer at Calder Race Course April 26, a 6-year-old mare named Tinkerbuck that finished second in the 11th race.
Boulanger, the leading rider of the 1994 and 1995 Calder Meet and the 1994-95 Tropical Meet, was seriously injured in a 2005 spill at Gulfstream Park that ended his career. He suffered a ruptured spleen, broken ribs, and a detached tendon in his left elbow from the spill. A blood clot was also removed from his brain and part of his skull had to be removed to prevent cranial pressure.
Boulanger needed a long time to recover, but as of last year he was teaching riding lessons and working with young students on a farm in Davie, Fla. He did take out his trainer's license in 2007. An accident on the farm, however, delayed for several months his plans to become a trainer full time. In the accident, which occurred last Oct. 29, Boulanger suffered a broken tibia and fibia, as well as a dislocated left ankle. Doctors inserted screws and a plate into the injured leg.
He said he currently has three horses in training in Davie. Aside from Tinkerbuck, he has two 2-year-olds. As a jockey, Boulanger had significant success with juveniles at Calder, having won seven divisions of the Florida Stallion Stakes.
Boulanger ranks ninth on the all-time leading jockeys list for the Calder Meet with 723 winners; he is eighth on the Tropical Meet list with 348 winners.
