Loose horse nearly slams into Triple Crown hopeful I'll Have Another at Belmont Park

In this image provided by the New York Racing Association (NYRA), Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner I'll Have Another, ridden by exercise rider Jonny Garcia, gallops at Belmont Park, May 31, 2012 in Elmont, N.Y. / AP Photo/NYRA

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - Trainer Doug O'Neill says a loose horse nearly slammed into Triple Crown hopeful I'll Have Another during training Thursday at Belmont Park.

He says his Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner was walking a few feet from the outside rail when another horse threw his rider and came "screaming up the outside rail" the same way I'll Have Another was walking.

O'Neill says the unidentified horse went between the rail and I'll Have Another, and that exercise rider Jonny Garcia told him the horse grazed his boot. The trainer feared a collision was imminent.

O'Neill says he's seen accidents like that, and "they are ugly." He says his stomach is "still a little twisted" and he doesn't want to think about what nearly happened.

O'Neill said I'll Have Another was lucky, the New York Daily News reports.

"Normally, when a horse hears another horse coming up on him, they look over and if he did that he would have been T-boned by that horse," he said.

I'll Have Another will attempt to become the first Triple Crown winner in 34 years at the Belmont Stakes on June 9.