LOCKDOWN!

++ Racing in Britain cancelled for SIX days after horse flu outbreak ++ 120 stables quarantined ++ 1,000 horses to be tested ++ Cheltenham Festival under threat ++

RACING in Britain was in ‘serious crisis’ last night after the sport was forced into a devastating six-day shutdown to tackle an outbreak of equine influenza.

There are fears that next month’s Cheltenham Festival could be under threat if the problem escalates. So far, three horses trained by Donald McCain have tested positive.

Meath trainer Gordon Elliott had five runners at Ayr on Wednesday where McCain also had a runner on the card, potentially putting all the horses who were at Ayr at risk of infection.

Elliott, however, was able to send his horses to an isolation yard before they returned to his stables.

‘We’ve been told that the chances of this affecting our runners from yesterday is very remote,’ Elliott said yesterday. ‘But we can’t take any chances whatsoever, and those horses that went to Ayr will be quarantined as long as they have to be.’

Britain’s champion jumps trainer Nicky Henderson said: ‘The ramifications are horrendous. It’s a crisis, a serious crisis. We were at Ludlow on Wednesday and won the last race. I hope it’s not the last race for a long time. Tomorrow I have six vets in the yard who will start at 6am and take nasal swabs from 150 horses.’

A total of 23 meetings will be lost if racing restarts on Wednesday but the financial damage of the break would be dwarfed by the loss of Cheltenham.

That would cost the racing, betting and hospitality industries around £200million, while a betting

business source said losing this weekend’s meetings could cost the gambling firms £20m.

In an attempt to limit the spread of the highly contagious virus, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) cancelled four meetings yesterday. They also informed stables that had runners at Ayr and Ludlow on Wednesday — and potentially came into contact with McCain’s charges — that they could not move their horses.

The decision put 120 stables into lockdown, including those belonging to Philip Hobbs, Paul Nicholls, Dan Skelton, Colin Tizzard and Nigel Twiston-Davies.

The BHA had hoped it might be able to resume racing if testing the entire McCain stable at Bankhouse in Cheshire confirmed the infection was limited to three horses. But the logistics of having to test about 1,000 horses around Britain meant a longer shutdown was needed.

Tomorrow’s prestigious meeting at Newbury, where Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Native River was due to race against King George VI Chase winner Clan Des Obeaux, has been called off.

Henderson said: ‘The news was a bolt from the blue at 6am. I woke up looking forward to running Angels Breath at Huntingdon and within two seconds was hit with the news and all of a sudden we are in a maelstrom.

‘I can live with the build-up to Cheltenham being disrupted if they say we can’t race. It is not ideal but the main thing is to knock this on the head as quickly as possible. It might be a sledgehammer to crack a nut but I cannot disagree with what they are doing. I am hopeful everything will be OK.’

The decision on the resumption of racing will not be confirmed until Monday after discussions with trainers and risk assessments following the results of the tests.

BHA chief executive Nick Rust insisted last night that everything was being done to contain the problem.

‘I can’t say definitively that there won’t be an impact that stretches as far as Cheltenham, but where infectious diseases have broken out in racing, we learn from them each time,’ he told the BBC. ‘The danger would be to take a chance and allow horses to move, so we’ve effectively locked it down and we’ll be in a very clear position next week.

‘And if you were to ask me again about Cheltenham, I hope to be definitive then. I’m very confident that the action we’re taking will ensure Cheltenham can be on.’

On a dramatic day for the sport in Britain, questions were raised in the House of Commons and comparisons were drawn with the footand-mouth disease outbreak in 2001 which saw more than 60 meetings abandoned, including Cheltenham.

Racing did take place in Ireland yesterday as Elliott’s five runners at Ayr were placed in an isolation yard around 25 minutes from his Meath base.

Seven Newmarket Flat stables, including that of Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby, were included in the shutdown because they had horses at Wolverhampton on Monday, where McCain also had a runner.

However, fears stoked by references to the 2007 equine influenza outbreak in Australia, which disrupted racing in New South Wales for eight months, were played down because at the time Australia did not vaccinate against the disease.

McCain, who like all trainers in Britain and Ireland must vaccinate against equine influenza, said in a statement released by the National Trainers Federation: ‘I have been aware of the recent news about equine influenza outbreaks in France and Ireland and over the last couple of days I have been concerned about the health of a small number of horses in the yard.

‘Their welfare is at the front of our minds, so at my request, our veterinary surgeon has examined them regularly and we have followed his advice.

‘It was by following this protocol that the positive results for equine flu came to light. The BHA were contacted immediately and we are liaising closely with them about biosecurity and management of all the horses at Bankhouse.

‘We would never race any horses that we could have known were infected. When new horses arrive at our yard we try to keep them separate but at this stage cannot know if the infection came from recent arrivals or horses returning from racing. We have three confirmed cases and this morning have taken blood and swabs from all the others for testing.’

Explaining their decision to halt the sport, the BHA praised McCain for acting ‘professionally’.

Racing’s ruling body added: ‘The BHA’s veterinary team has today been in contact with more than 50 trainers and veterinarians to allow it to make an informed assessment of the risk of equine influenza spreading.

‘Whilst no further positive tests have been received, at least three more days are required before it will be possible to make a decision about whether it is safe to resume racing. The disease can take up to three days before symptoms are visible, meaning it will take until Sunday before the BHA can gather all the information required.

‘This precautionary approach is intended to ensure we put the health of the horse population and control of the virus first, and avoid any unnecessary risk that might come from returning to racing too quickly.’

Tomorrow’s fixture at Newbury would have attracted a bumper crowd of around 7,000 people. A course spokesperson said: ‘We are disappointed but it is horse welfare that comes first and we take guidance from the BHA.’