Paraplegic Completes Harness Test

O.J. Waddell, a paraplegic who is seeking a license to drive harness horses, successfully completed a one-mile test for three state stewards Monday at the Cal-Expo track in Sacramento.

“He did all he needed to do,” said Will Meyers, one of the stewards. “He was as good as you could get. He was right on the mark.”

It is likely that Waddell will be licensed to drive in several qualifying races, which will be the next step before he’s ready for actual competition. “We’ll have to check with [the California Horse Racing Board], to make sure we’ve fulfilled all the requirements,” Meyers said. “If we have, it looks like he’s home free.”

When Waddell, 36, was denied a license by the stewards at Los Alamitos in February, his appeal was heard by an administrative law judge, who ordered that Waddell be given Monday’s trial.

Besides Meyer, the stewards at the trial were Peter Tommila and John Herbuveaux.

Driving a pacer named Mostly Me, Waddell was expected to finish the mile within a second of 2:10, and to maintain even fractions throughout the test.

Meyers said that the final time was 2:09 3/5, with fractions of :32 2/5 for the first quarter-mile, 1:04 for the half and 1:36 for three-quarters.

Waddell, who lives near San Bernardino, was paralyzed from the waist down in a drive-by shooting in 1979. His application for a driving license was denied in 1996 when he missed by several seconds in two one-mile trials.