Monticello accident sends Mike Forte to hospital

Driver Mike Forte was hurt in a five-horse pile-up in the seventh race at Monticello Raceway on Thursday, and as of early Thursday evening the extent of his injuries were unknown. After lying motionless on the track for a while and being attended to there, he was eventually taken to the emergency room at Catskill Regional Medical Center  in nearby Harris, NY. Initial reports by an emergency room staffer said Forte was alert and was being taken for a cat-scan.

 

The accident happened as the field headed to the three-eighths pole.  Forte’s pacer, A & G’s Flirt, was tucked in tightly behind the pacesetter J Grayson, driven by Billy Parker Jr. As the field was halfway around the turn, Parker’s horse jumped a shadow and fell to his knees but his sulky wheel was hooked by Forte’s wheel. Parker was thrown to the ground and Forte’s horse fell over Parker’s sulky, which catapulted Forte into the air and that started a chain reaction. When Forte landed, he was run over by the trailing horses.

 

Chuck Poynton, Kyle DiBendetto and Jimmy Marohn Sr. were also unseated and ended-up under fallen horses as a result of the pile-up, but fortunately they, and Parker, all walked away under their own power. The extent their injuries is not known at press time, though none appeared to be seriously hurt. DiBenedetto even drove later on the card.

 

Amazingly, all of the horses involved were unhurt, though two ran loose and had to be captured. Three horses finished and the race was declared "official"  by the judges. (Monticello Raceway)