Starting Gate Almost Finished This Horse

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — In a bizarre opening-day incident at Saratoga, a horse fell in the starting gate, got caught underneath and had to be tranquilized before being freed.

Lost Link, a 3-year-old colt owned by Bertram Firestone, got nervous before the start of the third race on Wednesday. The horse reared in the gate, threw jockey Mike Smith and then flipped onto the ground, getting caught underneath the gate.

While thrashing around, Lost Link injured the horse in the next stall, Curbex. Both horses were scratched from the race, but track workers couldn’t free Lost Link from the gate.

Dr. Theodore Hill, the track veterinarian, then injected Lost Link with a tranquilizer so that he would remain still while the gate was removed. After that was done, Lost Link was able to get up on his own and walk into an ambulance.

Hill said Lost Link sustained a “deep puncture on his left shoulder,” but the injury did not appear to be life threatening. Curbex and Smith were not seriously injured.