Two racehorses die in US racetrack collision
Two racehorses have died in an accident at Belmont Park racetrack in New York.
The horses collided with each other on the training track on Saturday morning (4 January) at about 8am.
Caixa Eletronica, who won 23 times in his career, was galloping when he crashed with Six Drivers, who was loose after unseating his rider.
The 4-year-old Six Drivers reportedly threw his rider and galloped into a group of horses coming in the opposite direction.
Both horses died instantly. 9-year-old Caixa Eletronica suffered a fractured skull. Six Drivers broke his neck.
“He’s a barn favourite,” Caixa Eletronica’s trainer Todd Pletcher told US press.
“To me he was everything that was good about the game. You take a horse from a modest beginning and literally get to the pinnacle of racing. He showed up every time. It’s just heartbreaking.”
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
Caixa Eletronica’s rider Carlos Castro suffered a broken pelvis.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.