VIRUS FALLOUT
Quarantine at Barn 86 means trainer’s horses to miss stakes races
Trainer Kenny Mcpeek talks about a case of equine herpesvirus found in the barn he shares with other trainers that will keep some of his big horses out of the races at Saratoga.
Trainer Kenny Mcpeek had high hopes for his barn at the Saratoga meet.
The Kentucky horseman has a boatload of high-profile horses that he thought would make a dent in the Spa meet, the most prestigious in the land. They still might, but they’ll have to wait.
Mcpeek’s Saratoga goals took a hit on Friday when it was announced that a 21-day quarantine is in effect for Barn 86 following a confirmed case of equine herpesvirus to a horse stabled in that barn. The horse, an unnamed, unraced filly trained by Jose Abreu, was sent to Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital near the track on Sunday after developing a fever and a positive test for EHV-1 came back Thursday.
Abreu trains 15 horses that are in Barn 86; Mcpeek has 30.
Abreu’s unnamed filly was on the other side of Barn 86, away from Mcpeek’s horses.
The quarantine was put in place by the New York State Gaming Commission and the New York State veterinarians. It means that some of Mcpeek’s star horses will miss upcoming stakes at the Spa.
Included in that group is Swiss Skydiver, last year’s champion 3-year-old filly who won the 2020 Alabama and Preakness. She was being targeted for the Grade III, $300,000 Shuvee
a week from Sunday. Mcpeek was also hoping to run Crazy Beautiful and Tabor Hall in the Grade I, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks next Saturday and King Fury in the Grade II, $600,000 Jim Dandy on July 31.
During the quarantine period, horses in Barn 86 will not be allowed to be entered in any races and cannot train with the general horse population. The New York Racing Association has set a special time for training for those horses, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the Oklahoma Training Track.
“Look, everything happens for a reason,” Mcpeek said Friday. “We just have to follow protocol and it is what it is. The good
news is that none of my horses are ill. The bad news is that we are on the bench until they make sure everyone is OK. It’s important that this doesn’t spread.”
The quarantine is retroactive to Sunday, July 11. That is the day the horse with the virus trained by Abreu left the barn for the Rood and Riddle Hospital.
A statement released by the New York State Gaming Commission on Friday stated “in accordance with established protocols, all horses in Barn 86 have been placed under quarantine for 21 days, where they will be monitored daily for fever and other signs of illness. During quarantine, these horses will not be permitted to train among the general horse population or enter races.”
Mcpeek had to scratch one
horse from Friday’s card at the Spa. He has three horses entered for Saturday and four more here on Sunday. They will also not be able to run.
Abreu has horses at another barn at Saratoga and at the harness track. Those horses will be permitted to run. One of them, a 3-year-old filly named Strong Moment, broke down in Friday’s final Saratoga race and was euthanized.
Dr. Scott Palmer, the equine medical director for the New York State Gaming Association, sympathizes with trainers not being able to run their horses during the quarantine.
“Our number one priority is to protect the horse population at Saratoga,” Palmer said Friday. “There is no question about that. But we certainly don’t want to disrupt the meet, either.”
A final determination on any quarantine would be made by the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets.
The current quarantine will keep Mcpeek’s horses away from competition. It’s not known what he will do the rest of the meet when he is allowed to bring them back to the races. Swiss Skydiver, for example, was going to use the Shuvee as a prep race for the Grade I, $600,000 Personal Ensign on Aug. 28.
“As long as I have been doing this, I have seen all kinds of stuff,” Mcpeek said. “I have seen a racetrack freeze up and you couldn’t train for a month. What are you gonna do? You just take a deep breath and deal with it the best you can.”