Fair Grounds bars shippers from New York, Maryland

Fair Grounds Racecourse in New Orleans won’t allow horses based in New York and Maryland to ship onto its grounds, the track announced in a news release Wednesday.

The ban was put in place because of positive tests for equine herpesvirus from racehorses in both states. A barn at Belmont Park in New York housing horses trained by Linda Rice remains under quarantine following a positive herpesvirus test there, but Laurel Park lifted a single-barn quarantine earlier this week after a horse with a positive herpes test was re-tested and returned a negative result.

The release said New York- and Maryland-based horses would be barred from the track “until further notice.” Fair Grounds went through an equine herpesvirus situation a year ago that significantly compromised its 2016 – 2017 race meet.