Parx: Third horse tests positive for equine herpesvirus

A third horse tested positive for the equine herpesvirus at Parx Racing on Wednesday. The soonest a quarantine at the track can now be lifted is May 4.

All three horses to test positive are from Barn 30, where trainers Michael Aro and Ron Dandy are stabled. Salute to Bob, a 3-year-old trained by Dandy who had been racing in the lower maiden-claiming ranks, tested positive for the virus Wednesday after becoming ill.

The first two horses to test positive were trained by Aro. No Quid Pro Quo tested positive April 1 and has died. The second horse, Monkey Hill, tested positive Tuesday. She has been moved offtrack to a farm, where she is being kept in isolation.

Barn 4 also is under quarantine because Butch Reid, who is stabled there, claimed Sunshine Wild from Dandy on March 29, the day before No Quid Pro Quo became ill.

The quarantine will remain in effect until 28 days pass without a horse testing positive for the virus. During the quarantine, horses are not allowed to ship in or out of Parx.

Racing at Parx is scheduled to continue during the quarantine, although horses from barns 4 and 30 are not allowed to train or race and are being isolated from the rest of the track's horse population.

The equine herpesvirus can cause respiratory and neurological problems in horses. It is a contagious disease that can sometimes be fatal.

This is the second equine herpesvirus quarantine at Parx in the last six months. The track was quarantined for practically all of October after a single horse tested positive after shipping in from Presque Isle Downs.