Cheltenham should be safe from flu but refusal to halt Irish racing is a risky move
THE question on everyone’s lips is whether the Cheltenham Festival will be harmed by equine influenza but while information is still being assembled and analysed, racing’s greatest jumps festival shouldn’t be in any great jeopardy. The swiftness with which the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) reacted to three cases of equine flu being confirmed in horses trained by Donald McCain on Wednesday night will surely aid their cause greatly.
Erring on the side of caution isn’t the most popular move but the decision to immediately cancel racing at Huntingdon, Doncaster, Ffos Las and Chelmsford yesterday is to be admired in an attempt to the nip the problem in the bud.
And while money will be lost on a host of fronts without racing in the UK until at least next Wednesday, the ramifications which the equine flu could have on the thoroughbred racing industry are catastrophic.
Its effects are still unknown and that’s what makes the stance taken by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) to continue racing as normal all the more surprising.
Given our geographical closeness, perhaps Irish authorities should have followed suit, even if a few racing meetings were lost as a result.
Equine influenza is highly contagious and can be airborne over reasonable distances as well as transmitted indirectly – and also via people – so there is a sense that unnecessary risks are being taken by continuing to race on these shores.
Are Irish authorities dicing with death by keeping the show on the road while our near neighbours go into total lockdown?
Potential risks are magnified given the amount of Irish runners abroad in recent days which could have come in contact with equine influenza.
Gordon Elliott, John Carr, Shane Nolan, Stuart Crawford, Ronan McNally, Caroline McCaldin and David Christie had runners at Ayr or Ludlow on Wednesday but were able to divert them to isolation yards.
Had they returned to their stables, risks would again have been hugely increased.
Elliott spoke yesterday of “a million-to-one chance” of it affecting their runners but they’re “not going to take any chances” and leave them in quarantine for as long as is needed.
The decision that British horses should be barred from entering Irish races was deemed “a prudent step in the short term” by the IHRB’s Dr Lynn Hillyer as the risk to disease in Irish thoroughbreds was unchanged.
Under the rules of racing, Irish horses in training must be vaccinated for equine influenza, a disease which shows symptoms ranging from increased temperature, coughing, nasal discharge, being off feed, and more severe respiratory signs.
While prevention is better in that instance, perhaps that same mantra should have been applied in terms of postponing the Irish racing calendar until the picture becomes a little
clearer in Britain in a few days.
Equine influenza decimated Australian racing in 2007 with the cancellation of 211 race meetings.
It also impacted the New South Wales racing and breeding industries for eight months, costing close to a billion Australian dollars to eradicate.
With Cheltenham less than five weeks away, there are understandable worries about whether the four-day Festival will be affected and while not nearly on the same scale, there are uncomfortable echoes of the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak.
The racing calendar was hit gravely 18 years ago with the cancellation of the 2001 Festival but given all information currently available and the speed at which measures have been put in place in Britain, a repeat of those consequences looks unlikely.
The disease is rarely fatal but can lead to complications like pneumonia and Cheltenham officials are confident that their showpiece event will remain unharmed.
“The early actions of the BHA will ensure that this outbreak of equine influenza can be contained.
“We look forward to racing resuming as soon as possible, and hope that will be well in advance of the Festival,” a Cheltenham Racecourse statement read.
No further cases of equine flu have been reported since the McCain trio on Wednesday night and it won’t affect the routines of any horses in yards without the virus.
However, this situation will be watched with bated breath by trainers the length and breadth of Ireland and Britain.
‘Cheltenham is less than five weeks away... and there are echoes of the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak’