After a lengthy layoff of any kind, most athletes find it hard to get their groove back. You have to be in tip top shape, and have to have your mental focus on high just to play.

Let us take a look at the opener at Evangeline Downs. A rider by the name of Shane Sellers was back in action after 4+ years. He tore his knee up something bad, and tonight had returned to the place where he rode his first pari-mutuel winner.

They were going to go 5 1/2 on the main track. This distance was a long way from the bush tracks and Breeders’ Cup races for this gent. He has seen it all, and tonight he was back in the saddle for his fellow ex-rider Mark Guidry.

They broke from the three-hole and a minute and one second later, Sellers came back home. He was in the winner’s circle again.

Just think, he was back at his home track in his home state. He was riding for a fellow rider who rode more winners than most ever will. He was coming back with a bum knee to compete against kids ten years younger. But none of this mattered. He was back.

Sellers wrote a book a few years ago. He was going to tell all. After reading about the man, the story was a tell all. It told of man who had to overcome much in his life. Tonight was no different. Welcome back, Shane… Job well done, and when many doubted you most, you proved the critics wrong again, with a picture in the winner’s circle. I hope you get to come back many more times, and it was good to see you back in the saddle.