British Horseracing Authority waiting on equine flu test results before decision over sport's resumption
Wolverhampton call off Saturday meeting while results are awaited and no British runners will be accepted in Ireland until further notice.
Thursday 7 February 2019 21:06, UK
The British Horseracing Authority will not know until Thursday evening whether further race meetings will be lost because of an equine influenza outbreak.
Meetings at Doncaster, Ffos Las, Huntingdon and Chelmsford on Thursday were called off after three confirmed cases of a variant of the disease from an active racing yard.
That yard had runners at Ludlow and Ayr on Wednesday so the BHA took precautions to try and limit to the spread of the disease, which can be spread through the air and appears to have affected horses who have been vaccinated.
Sky Sports Racing's Mick Fitzgerald also confirmed on Thursday that runners from Gordon Elliott's high-profile yard had been placed into isolation after travelling back to Ireland following their runs at Ayr to try and stop any disease spreading overseas. Horse Racing Ireland have also confirmed no entries from the United Kingdom will be accepted until further notice.
Of future meetings, only Wolverhampton have so far called off their flat race card on Saturday.
An updated statement from the BHA on Thursday morning read: "Racing was shut down today as a precautionary measure to restrict the movement of thoroughbred race horses and prevent any further spread of the virus. This is a standard contingency in the event of an infectious disease affecting our horses.
"It was essential that racing be stood down today and controls on movements of horses be put in place in order to attempt to control the spread of the disease, and the decision was taken swiftly last night that this course of action should be taken, once the extent of the issue was known.
"The BHA consulted with its veterinary committee before making this decision.
"We will endeavour to issue regular information but we are still in the early stages of assessing the scale and severity of the outbreak. We are working quickly to identify the extent of the infection and will have more information when further test results are returned today.
"The results from those tests will not be known until this evening. Following these results being known a call will be convened to discuss the implications and a decision will then be made as to the impact on racing in the coming days.
"We are aware that people want to know the situation as regards racing tomorrow and this weekend and we will seek to provide more clarity as soon as we are able. It is likely that any definitive decisions on whether racing can take place tomorrow will be taken later this evening.
"We are contacting trainers of all yards which might conceivably have had contact with horses from the affected yard in order to advise them on biosecurity measures and to ask them not to move horses. We are also issuing guidance to the wider population of trainers.
"We are working closely with the National Trainers Federation to share this information and ensure that trainers are kept as informed as possible. Trainers are being sent a contact number should they have further questions, and they are advised to contact their vets with any further concerns."
