Herpes suspected in filly death

ELMONT, N.Y. – Barn 10 at Belmont Park has been placed under quarantine due to a suspected case of equine herpes myeloencephalopathy (EHM), a respiratory virus that can sometimes be fatal.

In fact, the filly in that barn who was tested for EHM, Ladies Day, was euthanized late Friday morning at Belmont. Ladies Day initially spiked a fever on Monday and then had another temperature on Thursday, according to her trainer, Tom Albertrani. The filly could not stand on Thursday evening through Friday morning.

Test results on Ladies Day were not expected back until late Friday at the earliest. Dr. Anthony Verderosa, director of the New York Racing Association’s veterinarians, said Ladies Day exhibited symptoms consistent with the neurological form of the disease.

“I’d be very, very surprised – shocked, actually – if she’s not positive,” Verderosa said Friday morning outside Barn 10, which houses horses trained by Albertrani and Michael Dilger.

Ladies Day, a 4-year-old daughter of Bernardini owned by Godolphin Racing, won once from 10 starts.

Albertrani and Dilger both have 10 horses stabled in Barn 10. Those horses will not be permitted to race during what is expected to be a 21-day quarantine period. That includes Evaluator, who was scheduled to run in Sunday’s $100,000 Gander Stakes at Aqueduct for New York-bred 3-year-olds.

“This is usually a 21-day quarantine and some retesting done,” Verderosa said. “Of course, if any horse develops a fever or any other symptoms then the clock gets reset on the quarantine.”

During the quarantine period, horses in Barn 10 will be permitted to train only following the conclusion of regular training hours.

In January, Barn 44 at Belmont was placed under quarantine due to a suspected case of the equine herpesvirus (EHV-1). The horse in question in that case, an unraced 3-yearold trained by Linda Rice, did not show neurological signs of the disease and the quarantine was lifted in less than two weeks.

“This is different,” Verderosa said. “Linda’s horse was positive for EHV-1 but never developed anything but a fever.”

Verderosa said that only Barn 10 was under quarantine and not the entire Belmont backstretch.

“I am not closing the stable gates,” Verderosa said. “I’m confident because of my security people that this situation right here is contained. Plus, the 20 [other] horses are asymptomatic and do not have fevers, so that gives me even more confidence that we’ve got it under control at this point. But that could change.”

There are 11 horses based at Belmont Park that are entered in stakes races Saturday at Laurel Park, including five in the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie. One of those five, Highway Star, will be scratched by trainer Rodrigo Ubillo because he couldn’t find a suitable jockey, he said.

Bishop’s Pond was entered in both the Barbara Fritchie and Maryland Racing Media on Saturday’s card at Laurel, and trainer Jason Servis said he was planning to run her in the Maryland Racing Media.

Laurel officials were awaiting the test results on Ladies Day before deciding whether to allow horses based at Belmont to ship to Laurel.