A handful of horses at a second facility in Oldham County, Ky., have tested positive for the wild-type strain of equine herpesvirus (EHV-1), but none of the horses are showing symptoms of the disease, and restrictions on travel to Turfway Park have not changed as a result, according to the state’s equine programs manager.
NEW ORLEANS – There were no new cases of the equine herpesvirus reported over the weekend at Fair Grounds, but the track and Louisiana state officials still were grappling with the logistics of managing the viral outbreak here.
Thirty horses that tested positive last week for the virus, known as EHV-1, still were stabled in their regular stalls as of Sunday, although the protocol put in place by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry for managing the disease event at Fair Grounds requires horses that test positive to be isolated.
Glenn DiSanto, a longtime owner, breeder and trainer and one of the most well-liked horsemen on the backstretch of New York Racing Association tracks, died Saturday after a long bout with cancer. He was 62.
DiSanto was a graduate of the horse management program at SUNY Cobleskill. He began working with show horses at West Creek Farm in upstate New York and eventually purchased Summit View Farm in Greenwich, N.Y., in 1984.
He had been involved in the New York breeding program since the late 1970s, according to a 2009 story in The Saratogian.
Steve Crist, the recently retired former editor and publisher of the Daily Racing Form, has written an article for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association supporting proposed changes to tax rules that would be highly beneficial to horseplayers.
In the piece, which appears in a question-and-answer format, Crist, a lifelong advocate for horseplayers, calls the proposed changes “a godsend for horseplayers.” As a columnist, Crist was often critical of the current tax laws, which were drafted 40 years ago.
A strain of the equine herpesvirus continues to spread rampantly among the horse population at Fair Grounds, but the virus has so far proven very mild and is not related to a more serious herpesvirus infection that killed one horse in late December at Fair Grounds and infected a second horse in the same barn.
Those two more serious cases of the virus, though, triggered widespread testing that already has produced 38 more positive EHV-1 tests and threatens to return scores more.
Sam Houston Race Park in Houston has postponed its seven opening-weekend stakes races due to the equine herpesvirus outbreak at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, the track announced Friday. Sam Houston opens its meet Jan. 20.
New dates for the races are to be determined. Sam Houston’s goal is to have the new dates set by the end of next week, track spokeswoman Jamie Nielsen said. She said part of the discussion is whether to keep all the races grouped together, or split them onto different cards.
Horses entered in the $12 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park in Florida will be subjected to additional security and testing requirements that are similar to those that have been put in place for other major racing events, Gulfstream announced on Friday.
Horses shipping into Turfway Park are being confined to the receiving barn following positive tests for the equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) at the HighPointe Training Center near LaGrange, Ky., about an hour south of Turfway in Florence, Ky.
Rusty Ford of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture said Thursday by phone from Turfway that “some slight adjustments are being made” at Turfway in light of the findings. Ford said a single barn has been placed under quarantine at HighPointe.
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association has launched a page on its website allowing people to send comments to the IRS and U.S. Department of Treasury supporting proposed amendments to the tax code that would be favorable to horseplayers.
The board of directors of the Finger Lakes Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association has given Delaware North, the operators of the racino, permission to resume simulcast wagering as of Thursday.
The HBPA withdrew its permission for Finger Lakes to simulcast starting Jan. 1, as the two sides are far apart on a contract agreement regarding racing dates and purses for 2017, according to David Brown, president of the local HBPA.
