Calder takes precautions to lessen threat of tick disease

MIAMI - Precautionary restrictions have been placed on all horses in one barn at Calder as well as all horses stabled at the training center adjacent to the racetrack for a period expected to last from two to four weeks, track officials said on Sunday.

The restrictions, which are per order of the Florida Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture, came as a result of one or more horses in these barns having been exposed out of state to the tick-borne disease equine piroplasmosis. Currently, no horses stabled at Calder or the training center show any symptoms of the disease.

No horse under restriction at both the racetrack and training center will be allowed to race during the period in question. Horses stabled in the restricted barn at Calder, Barn 76, will be allowed to train daily outside the rest of the local population until the restrictions are lifted. No horses stabled at the training center will be allowed to ship into Calder even to train during the same time period.

More than 100 horses are stabled at the training center. There are 42 horses in Barn 76, the majority belonging to trainer Giuseppe Iadisernia