Racing cancelled across Britain

Horse Racing
Judicial aiming for Newmarket

All racing in Britain on Thursday has been cancelled due to three confirmed cases of equine influenza.

The British Horseracing Authority has taken the decision to abandon the scheduled meetings at Huntingdon, Doncaster, Ffos Las and Chelmsford after it was confirmed three vaccinated horses tested positive for the disease at an active racing yard.

It has not been confirmed which yard has been affected, but the BHA has stated that they were involved in racing at Ayr and Ludlow on Wednesday and that means a number of other horses have now potentially been put at risk.

A BHA statement on Wednesday night read: ‘The British Horseracing Authority, with unanimous support of the BHA’s industry veterinary committee, has taken the decision to cancel racing at all British racecourses on Thursday 7 February 2019.

‘This is following the BHA being informed this evening by the Animal Health Trust of three confirmed Equine Influenza positives from vaccinated horses in an active racing yard.

‘The fact that the cases have been identified in vaccinated horses presents a cause for significant concern over welfare and the potential spread of the disease and the action to cancel racing has been viewed as necessary in order to restrict, as far as possible, the risk of further spread of the disease.

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The BHA has also stated they are seeking to contain the disease as quickly as possible and are working with all yards that have potentially been affected.

‘The BHA is presently communicating with yards potentially exposed to ensure appropriate quarantine and biosecurity measures are put in place and horse movements restricted to avoid possible further spread of the disease,’ the statement added.

‘The full extent of potential exposure is unknown and we are working quickly to understand as much as we can to assist our decision making.

The BHA is working closely with the Animal Health Trust and will issue a further update tomorrow (Thursday).’

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