Cheltenham fears as flu virus wipes out racing
SAYS TRAINER DONALD MCCAIN
DONALD MCCAIN has spent his life accustomed to the spotlight.
His late father, Ginger, was famous around the world as the man who trained the great Red Rum to a record three Grand National triumphs in the 1970s.
And Mccain Jnr continued the family business by claiming victory in the same race when he saddled Ballabriggs to glory in 2011.
But the attention that came his way yesterday when he was revealed as the man in the eye of the equine flu storm was something new and unwelcome. He immediately mounted a sterling defence of his reputation after it emerged three horses at his Bankhouse stables in Cheshire were carrying the highly contagious virus.
News of the positive tests sent racing into meltdown as it was feared Mccain’s Raise A Spark and Dry Lightening, who contested races at Ayr and Ludlow on Wednesday, could also be infected.
On social media, where the crisis drew comparisons with the foot-and-mouth epidemic that claimed the 2001 Cheltenham Festival, Mccain was accused of a cavalier attitude to equine health.
But the 48-year-old, who took over from his legendary father in 2006, insisted: “We are scrupulous about observing the health status of horses in
our care and taking the necessary steps to treat any condition that may affect them.
“It follows we would never race any horses that we could have known were infected.
“I’ve been aware of the recent news about equine influenza outbreaks in France and Ireland, and over the last couple of days I’ve been concerned about the health status 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 on testing and treatment.
“It was by following this protocol
that the positive results for equine flu came to light yesterday evening.”
Mccain’s swift action drew praise from the British Horseracing Authority, whose Director of Equine Health and Welfare David Sykes, said yesterday: “We would like to thank Donald Mccain for his cooperation in this matter, and for the responsible manner in which he has dealt with this issue.
“He has acted professionally with the interests of the racing industry and the health of his horses as his priority.”
A total of 115 stables who have fielded runners against Mccain-trained horses over the
past week are now in lockdown – pending the results of swab tests for equine flu – with racing suspended until Wednesday at the earliest. British-based horses have also been banned from competing in Ireland – the Warren Greatrex-saddled mare La Bague Au Roi was in winning action
at Leopardstown’s Dublin Racing Festival on Sunday – until further notice by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board and Horse Racing Ireland.
“As an interim precaution, the IHRB and HRI have decided runners from Britain will not be permitted to run in Ireland in an effort to reduce the risk of further spread of the disease via horse movement,” read a jointstatement.
But fears equine flu could have been taken back to Ireland by runners sent to Ayr on Wednesday by Gordon Elliott were allayed by the County
Meath handler. “The horses we ran at Ayr yesterday never came back to our yard and instead went to a nonracing isolation yard about 25 minutes away from where we are based,” Elliott revealed.
“We’ve been told the chances of this affecting our runners from yesterday is very remote 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.”
The dual Grand National winner added: “Hopefully everything will get back to normal in Britain as quickly as possible, but from our point of view it’s business as usual.”