Parx Racing: Two barns placed under quarantine for equine herpesvirus

Two barns at Parx Racing have been placed under quarantine after one horse tested positive for the equine herpesvirus, the second time in four months that Parx has had to institute a quarantine due to that virus.

Horses will not be allowed to ship into or out of Parx for a 21-day period, according to racing secretary Sal Sinatra. The New York Racing Association announced Saturday that it will not permit horses to ship in from Parx or allow horses to ship to Parx until the quarantine is lifted.

“I can’t let anybody off the grounds until this is over,” Sinatra said.

Sinatra said Saturday’s card at Parx was canceled due to a combination of forecasted inclement weather as well as the quarantine. Sunday’s card was canceled as well.

Due to the restriction, Javerre, who is based at Parx with trainer Cal Lynch, will not be allowed to ship to Laurel Park on Monday to race in the Grade 3 General George Handicap, a race he won last year.

According to Sinatra, a horse trained by Bill Hedus, who is based in barn 32 at Parx, tested positive for the equine herpesvirus. The horse in question was recently purchased out of an Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. auction at the end of January. Sales companies often require that horses be inoculated with the equine herpesvirus vaccine.

While Sinatra thought that inoculation may have brought on the virus, he said that Dr. Aliza Simeone, a veterinarian with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Bureau of Animal Health, told him that “the stress of vanning and training probably is what caused it to come out,” Sinatra said Saturday afternoon.

Sinatra said that horse “is doing fine now and its temperature is normal,” but continues to be monitored.

Sinatra said that a second barn was placed under quarantine because a trainer in that barn, Marcos Zulueta, claimed a horse, Quality Cat, from Hedus last weekend and could have been exposed to the virus. That horse has not tested positive for the virus.

Coincidentally, that barn – barn 19 – was the same one that was placed under quarantine last fall when a horse trained by Steve Klesaris showed signs of the virus.

Speaking of this current situation, Sinatra said, “The horse had the [proper] health certificates when it came in. I truly believe the virus was because it was inoculated within 30 days of the sale.”