Never known anything like thus in UK. Guardian suggesting the hoses were McCains. Hopefully this has been contained and they can put in place a rigorous testing regime to identify clear horses before they are sent racing in the next few weeks.
Thinking aloud, if it has been contained and has been restricted the a few NH yards in the north, then we could see racing in the South on the weekend, particularly if its flat only. Lingfield due to race on Sat. Perhaps add a meeting at Kempton in case Newbury is off.
Appreciate it's a serious problem but haven't there been outbreaks in France and Ireland with flu vaccinated horses? Possible over reaction but I guess damned if you do, damned if you don't. :sad:
Well i was due to go to Sherwoods yard today with an owner but has been cancelled...dont panic, its just they are very busy testing every horse and cleaning boxes etc. No sense of panic and most dont seem over bothered...yet! apparently they are all waiting on McCains runners yesterday results.
Irresponsible the Guardian (and others) comparing with Australia a few years back...all british and Irish horses are vaccinated routinely...none were in Australia so it spread like wildfire. No chance of that here amongst racehorses.....pets may be different of course!
so lambourn is not panicking and all seems to be under control. Apparently the vets are awaiting the "strain" of flu detect that may have got around the vaccine, thatll be the key and its thought it may not be a serious threat, just a tweak in treatments (thats how viruses work...they get used to the vaccine and mutate to get round it). its been caught early and good decision by BHA even though little risk.
So the message seems upbeat. The Lambourn trainers are meeting later today to discuss so we may now more in time
From what I have been reading the influenza virus has a 2week incubation period. So I guess no racing in Britain for that period to make sure it's kept under control.
Lambourn trainers met this afternoon and support the BHA move as "sensible". Nothing yet untoward at Lambourn but then again I dont think there were any runners at Ayr. Before people panic too much, it is NOT the Ayr runners who have proved positive, but its sensble to test all the runners who did and it will take 3 days to find out.
Tipper, 5/1 is not short...that means its 1/7 to go ahead. i do not sense any panic and the Irish authorities acted very quickly to isolate the Ayr runners.For once this is a good example of the BHA working with trainers and owners and all seem happy to comply.
A nervous 3 day wait but certainly down here there is no belief that there is a problem. It can not be compared to the Foot N Mouth issue that cancelled Cheltenham. Moist trainers here are hopeful theyll be running next week. Fingers crossed
I dont see this lasting long. They need some time to get results back and for symptoms to show, so by Mon/Tue we should know if there is any spread. Fingers crossed we will be back in action on Wed. Thanks for the update Hippo.