Final race on Belmont Stakes card marred by fatal injury

ELMONT, N.Y – Equine fatalities took a backseat to the air-quality index in the days leading up to the Belmont Stakes. Just when it looked like two sensational days of racing were going to be completed without incident, there was a fatality in the 13th and final race on Saturday’s Belmont Park program.

Excursionniste, a 4-year-old New York-bred gelding running in a first-level allowance race on turf, sustained a catastrophic injury to his left foreleg and was euthanized on track. Though on-site attending veterinarians were quick on the scene, the horse was euthanized on the track due to the severity of the injury, according to the New York Racing Association.

Jockey Flavien Prat, who pulled up Excursionniste at the three-eighths pole, was uninjured.

Excursionniste became the third racing-related fatality at the Belmont meet that began May 4. There have been 1,662 horses who started in 213 races. There have been three training-related fatalities.

The racing industry has come under intense scrutiny this spring, with 12 equine fatalities occurring at Churchill Downs since late April. Churchill, following last weekend’s races, suspended its racing operations and moved them to Ellis Park for the remainder of the spring meet.

At the Preakness, there was a fatal breakdown of the horse Havnameltdown during the running of the Chick Lang Stakes.