Madness.. this is no way to run a sport
RACING BACKLASH AT NEW CONTROLS Trainer Murphy blasts BHA ruling on vaccinations
BY GRAHAM CLARK OLLY MURPHY has blasted the “madness” ruling that will force him to vaccinate all his horses, ruling them out for the next fortnight.
The British Horseracing Authority announced on Monday night that racing will resume today following the equine influenza outbreak.
The sport was rocked last week when it emerged three horses – which rose to six – had tested positive for the highlycontagious virus at Donald McCain’s stable in Cheshire.
The BHA quickly enforced a six-day shutdown of racing in Britain and placed over 170 yards on lockdown in an attempt to halt the spread.
The news over the weekend was largely positive – with around 1500 swabs from horses across the country returning negative – before four horses at Simon Crisford’s yard were also found to have contracted equine flu on Sunday evening.
The BHA announced late on Monday that racing would start up again but with strict biosecurity controls in place.
One of the stipulations is that no entries or declarations will be accepted from horses that have not been vaccinated in the previous six months.
But Murphy, who has not vaccinated the majority of his horses since last July, will now be forced to revaccinate most of his charges as he bids to get them back on the turf. He said: “It’s madness. I worked for Gordon Elliott for five years, he vaccinates his horses once a year – which is completely legitimate – so I’ve always done the same.
“Barring a handful, I vaccinated all my horses on July 12. I’ll now have to vaccinate them all again and although they’re saying we can run them again seven days later, it will probably be 10 to 14 days before I have another runner as they’ll need a bit of time to get over it.
“I know Paul Nicholls vaccinates all his horses in January but there’ll be a lot of trainers in the same position as we are.
“I have a hundred horses and I now need to ring all the owners and tell them that even though racing is back on their horses can’t run.
“We’re tying to run a business here. Joe Soap can go down the betting shop and have his bet again but for us it’s a disaster. This is no way to run a sport.”
Nicky Henderson has been forced to rule several stable stars out of engagements this weekend as they do not meet the vaccination criteria set out by the BHA.
He is delighted the sport will recommence – but revealed likely favourite Santini will not be able to run in the Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase at Ascot on Saturday.
And Christmas Hurdle heroine Verdana Blue can’t take up her entry in a fast-track qualifier for All-Weather Championships Finals Day at Kempton.
Henderson said: “It’s been a frustrating two weeks. We are all delighted with the news.
“We are only just getting our results back but I gather they are all okay. We have still got some more to come but I imagine they will be all right.
“We have got one or two frustrations because of the vaccinations – it has caught out one or two horses as they have just fallen outside of the window. We have just got to juggle a few things around which is frustrating.”
OLLY MURPHY