Outbreak of equine flu shuts down all racing

THERE will be no racing in Britain until February 13 at the earliest, the British Horseracing Authority has announced.

An outbreak of equine flu has caused a six-day shutdown, with racing’s rulers set to make a further assessment on Monday as to when racing can resume.

News broke late on Wednesday evening that the virus had been detected and Donald McCain confirmed on Thursday that he has three confirmed cases in his yard.

Whilst the infected horses had not been racing this week, McCain has had runners at Wolverhampton, Ayr and Ludlow.

As a result, any trainer who ran a horse at those meetings has had restrictions placed on their movement.

No further positive tests have been recorded, but another three days are needed before it will be possible to make a decision on whether it is safe to resume racing as the disease can take that long to show its symptoms.

In a statement, the BHA said: “This approach will allow samples to be collected and assessed by the Animal Health Trust in order that a fully informed decision can be made on Monday.

“This may then allow declarations to take place on Tuesday in time for racing on Wednesday, with 24-hour declarations for all fixtures on this day, should racing be able to resume. Declarations for Thursday would revert to the usual procedures.

“Trainers support a precautionary approach and we thank them for the collaborative manner in which they have worked with us to address this unfolding situation.”

It added that a plan to reschedule this weekend’s key races will be constructed.

McCain reported the cases of flu to the BHA after his vets relayed the news on Wednesday evening.

In a statement, he said: “Bankhouse (his stables) follows all the available advice on disease control and all our horses are fully inoculated.

“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.

“We would never race any horses that we could have known were infected.” PEP Guardiola hailed Kevin De Bruyne for his ‘incredible’ nine minutes in the vital win at Everton.

The City midfielder was a surprise presence on the substitutes’ bench as the Blues boss opted for Ilkay Gundogan and David Silva as his attacking midfield pair at Goodison Park.

But he was sent on in the closing stages, when the home side were pushing hard for an equaliser and helped to close the game down - and then stroked a pass through for Gabriel Jesus to score the killer second goal.

De Bruyne would not have been left out of a game of this magnitude last season, when he was asked to play game after game.

But the fact he has suffered injury problems, and the trust Guardiola now has in Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan, meant there was no need to flog the Belgium ace.

And the manager made it plain that De Bruyne - almost certain to start against Chelsea on Sunday - is one of those rare players who makes an impact off the bench.

“What I like, especially from Kevin, he came on in the last nine minutes and he was incredible,” said Guardiola. “You don’t win football competitions with 11 players. The players that come on after, sometimes I read which players can help us make a (difference) because some players don’t play good from the bench.

“That’s why I discover my players too, every time.

“That’s why Kevin was exceptional, not just because of the action for the pass and giving us that situation.”