Haughton’s Son Escapes Serious Injury in Spill

Harness driver Tom Haughton, whose Hall of Fame father, Bill, died after a racing accident earlier this month, escaped serious injury Saturday night in a spectacular spill at the Meadowlands.

Haughton was driving Kept Secret in the one-mile pace when the horse went down in the stretch run, flipping Haughton out of his sulky and over the top of the horse. Haughton landed hard on the track and wound up sitting next to a post along the stretch.

Another driver, Mickey McNichol, was thrown to the track when his horse, Tishri Messinger, collided with Haughton’s horse.

Both drivers sat on the track for a couple of minutes and then got up without assistance.

Track spokesman Allen Gutterman said both drivers were examined and were OK.

Gutterman said both horses had cuts and bruises but survived their falls.

The Haughton family has had a legendary and tragic history in harness racing. Bill Haughton died earlier this month of injuries suffered in a spill at Yonkers, N.Y. His son, Peter, who was also a driver, was killed in an automobile accident in January, 1980.