Gary Boulanger back in the saddle after 8 years.

[Stillriledup]

Horrible injury in 2005, he finally made it all the way back, Gary was on TVG's Blinkers Off this morning and had a long talk with Matt about his comeback.

It takes some kind of heart, guts and intestinal fortitude to come back from an injury like this and a LONG road back, i think they said Gary's first win was March 11th at Ocala, but i'm not sure if that was his first win or first ride back.


At any rate, congrats to Gary on getting back, amazing stuff.

[SharpCat]

Great to see Gary back in the saddle. Was always one of my favorite jocks at Calder.

[johnhannibalsmith]

Great to see Gary back in the saddle. Was always one of my favorite jocks at Calder.

:ThmbUp: :ThmbUp:

Agreed.

[tzipi]

Go get em Gary! Much luck, be safe :ThmbUp:

[deathandgravity]

That's Awesome! I remember Gary from Longacres.

Good Luck!

[jdhanover]

Details:
While competing in Florida in the winter of 2005, Gary Boulanger suffered a life-threatening and career-ending injury in a racing accident at Gulfstream Park in the January 30 running of the Mac Diarmida Handicap.Called "one of South Florida's best riders the past several years" by the New York Times, Boulanger underwent surgery for a ruptured spleen, broken ribs, as well as a detached tendon in his left elbow. The accident caused a blood clot, that surgeons had to extract, which necessitated the removal of a section of his skullcap to avoid damage to the brain from pressure caused by swelling. Following a very lengthy recovery process, in April 2009 Boulanger embarked on a new career race conditioning Thoroughbreds. In September he earned his first win as a trainer at Calder Race Course.On February 17, 2013, Boulanger returned to the saddle at Tampa Bay Downs, finishing 9th aboard Spring a Latch, a horse in which he is also trainer

[PhantomOnTour]

He won a race at the OBS races earlier this month in Ocala - came from way back to win going away...think the horse's name is Conquestor

[Ocala Mike]

Yep, he won for Mark Casse on Monday at OBS. Horse was one of two maidens in the race, and the other maiden ran 2nd. He got a big round of applause coming to the winner's circle.

[levinmpa]

Gary was on At the Races with Steve Byk this past Wednseday talking about his comeback. 2nd half of hour 3. Glad to hear he's back.

http://www.thoroughbredracingradionetwork.com/index.php?option=com_events&task=view_detail&agid=1446&year=2013&month=03&day=13&Itemid=35

[usedtolovetvg]

Always loved Gary first at Woodbine and then South Florida. The Woodbine website has a pretty extensive feature.


http://www.woodbineentertainment.com/WOODBINE/RaceTrackNewsPage.aspx?NewsId=af0f67ca-c323-45be-b699-c9488a475e12

[Aner]

Gary was one of the better riders at Golden Gate fields in the early 1990's. I wish him a successful comeback.

[cj's dad]

Welcome back GB; always one of my faves.

[Beachbabe]

Just rode a 16-1 winner with a pick-up mount in the 2nd at Keeneland

[JustRalph]

Just rode a 16-1 winner with a pick-up mount in the 2nd at Keeneland


He just rode a nice wire job in the Colleen stakes at 5-1 carrying my money on his back!

That's a heavy load :lol:

[jballscalls]

Gary Boulanger was my favorite rider when I was a kid. He dominated Longacres for a few years. I remember being 9 or 10 years old and having him autograph my jockey stuffed teddy bear (teddy bear in jockey outfit). I called the bear "Gary Bearlanger"

I told him I wanted to be a jockey, and he looked at me and my dad who was 6'2 standing next to me and said "good luck kid!"

Always rooting for him!

[Stillriledup]

Gary's son won the first at Los Al?

"making 4-5 look like an absolute gift"

-Eddie B

[ultracapper]

He crushed at Longacres the last couple years it was opened. I remember him being pretty damn good on late runners.

Edit: I see I'm not the first to mention Longacres, or his closing style. Read the thread after I posted. Glad he made it back. How's he been doing the past year, and where has he been riding? Like one of the other posters in this thread, I really liked him back in the day.

[rubicon55]

I think he is as Woodbine currently.