It has been a spring like no other for Dave Palone, easily the most overlooked, underappreciated athlete in Western Pennsylvania.

Not only has he burst back from the worst injury of his career, but he did so in time to witness something he wasn't sure would ever happen.

For years, Palone, one of the most successful drivers in harness racing history, has waited along with his colleagues for the state's horse racing industry to stabilize financially.

Finally, he saw the legalization of slots and, last week, the opening of a casino at The Meadows that will bolster the harness track.

But here's one of the remarkable things about Palone -- he has got a good enough handle on the situation that he won't be disappointed when the crowds at the casino don't translate to a packed house in the stands a couple hundred yards away.

Palone is just hoping for some trickle-down action, a few warm bodies who might wander over to plunk down a few bucks on the "ponies" out of curiosity or when their luck at the slots runs cold.

"Attendance has become so bad that just having people next door, if we could just show them our product, if we can filter 15 or 20 people over just to watch a race now and then so they can see how exciting it is, maybe a different aspect of gambling that they're not accustomed to, they'll see that it's a lot of fun," Palone said.

"Any kind of exposure is good. We'll take anything we can get."

Perhaps when the track's grandstand is razed and replaced by a glitzy permanent casino structure, proximity will help the track.

It's likely, though, that the fortunes that turned with the arrival of slots also will relegate the track to a dusty appendage of the casino. The word "racino" didn't disappear for no reason.

Oh, the purses and attendance might go up some, but the attraction always will be the one-armed bandits, not the four-legged pacers and trotters. For now, the grandstand comes to life infrequently -- for the Adios Pace in August, for simulcasts of the Triple Crown.

On those occasions, the Washington County track benefits. And those even remotely in the know recognize that betting at The Meadows means looking for Palone.

He wasn't part of the equation for the crowds who came on Kentucky Derby day and for the Preakness this year, however.

During the final race of the day on April 10 at The Meadows, Palone was thrown when the horse he was driving, Be Dreamin, collided with a horse that had just fallen, Hannington. Palone was the only one hurt. He had a rod and pins surgically implanted in his shattered right thigh bone.

"I've broken my back a couple times, broke my shoulder, had a punctured lung, multiple broken wrists and small things like that, but this one here, boy, I'll tell you what, this is the worst by far," Palone said. "It happened on a Tuesday night. I really don't remember anything until maybe Friday. It was just awful.

"The pain is still there. This is the toughest thing I've ever had to battle. I've never had to deal with bone pain like this. Every night I struggle with it. But there's no sense feeling sorry for yourself. You might as well get through it and get better every day."

He looked questionable for the Adios, much less any of the Triple Crown races or the casino opening.

But it's hard to keep this man down. He returned to racing with two rides May 29 -- before he was expected to even bear weight on the leg -- won seven of his nine races June 8, was there for Belmont day and will be there for the Adios.

He limps and favors his left leg when he braces in the sulky, but otherwise, he's back to doing what he does best.

Palone might not have a page on Wikipedia, but, at 45 and still in the region where he grew up, he has been so consistently good that he entered this week with 11,451 career victories, ranking him third all time behind Herve Filion and Cat Minzi.

He couldn't bear to watch racing while he was out, instead enjoying time with his family, but at least he got back in time to see the crammed parking lots outside the track and casino.

"It's nice to be back for it," Palone said of the new era of The Meadows.

There was a time, before thoughts of property tax relief or an arena for the Penguins, when the slots issue was tied almost exclusively to the horse racing industry, which was looking for a way to compete against neighboring states with slots. For years, the lobbying hit walls. Things looked bleak.

"It's been frustrating," Palone said. "Multiple times I've wanted to leave and to go to the states that have got the slots and the more lucrative purses. But this is home, and I've always dreamt that this would happen."