After a rough few months, the sport of horse racing suffered yet another tragedy as two more horses died after sustaining fatal injuries in races at Belmont Park over the weekend. The deaths marked the fifth and sixth fatalities at the Elmont, New York track since May 4—continued the macabre trend of animal deaths that has loomed over the sport this season. Mashnee Girl, a 5-year-old mare, was euthanized on the track after falling near the quarter pole of the first race of the day on Sunday, suffering an injury to her left front leg. Around 17 hours earlier, Excursionniste, a 4-year-old gelding, had been euthanized after falling and injuring his front left ankle. Both horses had been trained by Mark Hennig, who told NBC News while audibly sniffling, “I’m not holding up very well. It’s been very emotional. I just can’t fathom this ever happening, two horses you run in a row. I mean I’ve run over 10,000 horses and have never had anything close to this.” In a statement, animal rights organization PETA accused Belmont Park of “failing to protect its horses” and called for the venue to immediately suspend racing “to avoid the same bloodbath” as Churchill Downs, which announced plans to temporarily shutter its track after the recent deaths of a dozen horses.