Equine herpesvirus quarantine lifted at Belmont

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A quarantine placed on Barn 44 at Belmont Park due to a case of the equine herpesvirus was lifted Friday after the horse in question tested negative for the virus this week.

Linda Rice trains most of the horses in that barn, and trainer David Duggan has six. Those horses will be permitted to enter races and may now train with the general horse population. For the last two weeks – including Friday – horses in that barn had to train after regular training hours.

On Jan. 9, an unraced 3-year-old trained by Rice tested positive for EHV-1. The horse, placed in isolation at a different Belmont barn, tested positive again Jan. 17. A test taken last Wednesday came back negative. That horse will remain in isolation for the next several days.

The quarantine prevented Rice from running several horses, including Do Share in last weekend’s Fire Plug Stakes at Laurel Park. Rice also kept Do Share out of Saturday’s Toboggan Stakes because she had grown tired of entering and then having to scratch horses. Rice said Do Share may now point to the General George at Laurel Park on Feb. 17.