Two horses perish after training collision at Belmont

Two horsed died Saturday morning at Belmont Park due to injuries suffered when the horses collided on the training track during training hours, according to several witnesses.

Silent Scheme, a 2-year-old gelding trained by Mark Hennig, and More for Sure, a 3-year-old filly trained by Tony Dutrow, were the horses involved in the accident. According to witnesses, Silent Scheme unseated his exercise rider and wound up going clockwise, or in racing parlance, the wrong way. Silent Scheme was going at a high rate of speed when he collided into More For Sure who was galloping counterclockwise, or the right way, in the vicinity of the sixteenth pole.

Silent Scheme suffered a broken neck and died instantly, Hennig said. More for Sure suffered a broken shoulder and was euthanized on track, according to Dutrow.

Both Hennig and Dutrow reported that the exercise riders of their horses were okay.

More for Sure, a 3-year-old daughter of Cracksman, won a maiden turf race at Saratoga on June 5 in her sixth career start but hadn’t run since.

“It’s so sad, so tragic, it got to the bottom of me,” said Dutrow, who trained the filly for Team D, of which he is part-owner. “I’m trying to get through it.”

Silent Scheme, a son of Charlatan who brought $375,000 at a 2-year-old-in-training sale, was winless in his first two starts. He was recently gelded, Hennig said.

“These accidents are really tough on everybody,” Hennig said. “We all know they can happen. At the end of the day just thankful the riders are okay.”

The New York Racing Association plans to investigate the accident.

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