IRISH LIFT BRIT BAN
THE Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board has lifted the ban on Britishtrained runners competing in Ireland.
This follows France, who had no problem with British horses following the equine influenza outbreak provided they passed veterinary checks.
In fact there were three horses representing Michael Bell and Archie Watson in a couple of lucrative Listed races at Cagnes-sur-Mer on Sunday.
All three British-trained horses were on French soil when news of the positive cases first broke and were diverted to Chantilly on their way south to be tested.
British-trained runners will be able to race in Ireland with immediate effect, so long as they comply with the IHRB requirements, which include the Clade One vaccine within eight weeks of the intended race.
The feature contests in Ireland this weekend include the Red Mills Chase at Gowran Park on Saturday, in which Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite Presenting Percy could line up, and the Ladbrokes Boyne Hurdle at Navan on Sunday. The flu outbreak does seem to be spreading and is not now confined to the north west where Donald McCain’s yard is situated.
There has been an unconfirmed report that 10 unraced two-year-old thoroughbreds in the Suffolk were found to have contracted the highly contagious virus.
The testing continues at a rapid rate with over 700 swabs a day being examined at the Animal Health Trust.
So far over 2,000 samples had been analysed with just 10 proving positive, six at the McCain yard and four at Newmarket at the stable of Simon Crisford.
There have been outbreaks of equine influenza in nine English counties since the start of 2019.
One case involves a vaccinated non-thoroughbred horse in stables at a fee-paying school in the south west of England.
The Rebecca Menzies stable has been given the all clear where suspicious cases of potentially symptomatic horses had been identified. All of her horses from her yard have since been sampled and tested negative.
However, this does not guarantee that the horses had not previously had the virus.
Nor does it rule out the possibility that the virus is still incubating in some horses.
The incubation period for equine flu is 48 hours and horses can remain infectious for a week after the onset of clinical signs.
In general, uncomplicated cases of influenza resolve within one to two weeks.