It’s been a long year for Heather Smullen. Trainer Barclay Tagg is recovering from a horrific riding accident that left her with broken tibia and fibula in her right leg. It happened at the end of 2021 meet at Racecourse Saratogaand the road to recovery is very slow.
She is a regular partner of Belmont Stakes 2020 presented by NYRA Bets (G1) and Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) winner Law Tiz . She worked for the New York-bred horse for most of his racing career alongside several other horses in the Tagg stables.
40-year-old Smullen, niece of Tagg’s assistant Robin Smullen, injured herself when Blitz to win jumped onto the rails in Saratoga at the far turn and landed on her knees.
Smullen had surgery last September, and at the start of this year’s encounter, had another surgery.
“They have to get rid of the part that has grown,” she said. “They put a plate and seven screws on the bone and fibula and grafted onto the unhealed area.”
Going back to work for the Tagg warehouse was a goal, but she wasn’t sure if that would ever happen.
“I don’t know if I can do it,” she said. “If you can’t do well, you don’t want to do it. If I can’t hold a squat, I won’t be able to gallop.”
Blitz to Win, owned by Tiz the Law ties, Sackatoga Stable, is still in training and finished fifth in an allowance race at Saratoga on Aug. 20.
Smullen, who calls Florida home, was in Saratoga for the entire meeting because she had surgery in the Capital Region and her doctors are here.
“I miss the horses, but I still get to be around them, which is great,” she said. “You can’t sit at home and do nothing. I miss riding beautiful horses. The obstinate people are getting ridiculous, I don’t miss them too much.”
Smullen said she will see how long it takes for her leg to fully recover before deciding what to do next for her career. She estimates that her right foot is 75 percent.
“We’ll just wait and see how it heals,” she said. “At the moment, it hurts, but it’s stable.”
