Racehorse Gets Loose From Monmouth Park, Runs Down Side Of Rt. 36: Reports

OCEANPORT, NJ — A racehorse escaped Monmouth Park Racetrack Sunday, and photos and video posted to social media show the horse running down Rt. 36.

The horse was a racing thoroughbred that got spooked and broke away from his handler Sunday afternoon. It ran out of the park through a gate that had been left open and unguarded, the horse's trainer, Cal Lynch, told The Thoroughbred Daily News.

A man driving by on Rt. 36 posted this video that shows the horse galloping past the Dunkin' Donuts on Rt. 36 west in Oceanport, which is about a half mile from the main entrance to the racetrack.

The horse was safely caught near that Dunkin' Donuts. A pick-up truck could be seen in the above video veering off the highway and stopping in front of the horse, as if to try and corral the horse.

Another passerby posted this video of the horse running down the side of Rt. 36.

The horse's trainer told The Thoroughbred Daily News he was "shocked" and very angry someone left a stable gate at Monmouth Park open, and also that nobody was guarding the stable gates in and out of the park.

"Unbelievably, no one had closed the stable gate and he ran right out," Lynch told the news outlet. "He was at the gap by the racetrack and the horses from the previous race were galloping by. That spooked him. He reared up and got away from the groom and went all the way down the horse path, and galloped out of the stable gate. No one was there at the stable gate to stop him. That's unbelievable to me. I am very disappointed by that, but at least the horse is OK and nobody got injured. He's back at the barn and everything is fine."