Flu forces cancellations

Horse racing in Britain has been cancelled until at least Wednesday over an outbreak of equine flu. The British Horseracing Authority said that no new positive cases had been received since it announced early on Thursday (NZ time) that three vaccinated horses in an active racing yard had flu. But it added that ‘‘at least three more days are required before it will be possible to make a decision about whether it is safe to resume racing’’. That means ‘‘a fully formed decision can be made on Monday’’ on whether races can be held on Wednesday. The BHA played down fears the British outbreak could be as severe as the one in Australia in 2007, which led to the Sydney spring carnival being cancelled. ‘‘The situation here is not the same,’’ the BHA said, adding Australian thoroughbreds aren’t vaccinated against horse flu, while British horses are because the virus is endemic in the UK.