Equine clinic planned near Belmont

A subsidiary of a company that owns and operates a racing stable plans to open a $7 million equine clinic across the street from Belmont Park that will be headed by Dr. James Hunt, the New York racetrack practitioner, and Dr. Patricia Hogan, the equine surgeon.

The 11,000-square-foot clinic will be financed by IEAH Corporation, a subsidiary of International Equine Acquisitions and Holdings, partners in the company announced on Thursday at Saratoga Race Course. The clinic plans to offer "state-of-the-art" diagnostic and orthopedic services for horses based at Belmont Park and on Long Island, according to the partners.

Robert Schiavo, a co-president of IEAH, said that ground is expected to be broken for the facility later this year, and that the clinic will likely be open for business in the summer of 2007. IEAH will receive a management fee from the operations at the clinic, and will operate as a for-profit business, Schiavo said. Dr. Hogan and Dr. Hunt will own the clinic.

"We're going to give them all the tools to do their work, and they're going to give us a management fee," said Michael Iavarone, the co-president of IEAH.

IEAH owns horses under IEAH Stables. The group has campaigned the stakes winners Wonder Lady Anne L, Rebel Rebel, and Kazoo.

Partners in the effort said they started the clinic because Long Island lacked a full-service equine facility that could perform complex surgeries and diagnoses of muscular-skeletal injuries, which are common at racetracks. Currently, horsemen must ship to clinics in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or upstate New York in order to obtain treatment or diagnoses for the types of injuries the clinic is expected to specialize in.

The chief surgeon at the facility will be Dr. Hogan, the current chief surgeon at the New Jersey Equine Clinic. Dr. Hunt, who said he currently treats approximately "60 percent" of the 2,500 horses based at Belmont Park, will be the manager of the clinic.