Advertisement

Saratoga barn virus quarantine may be lifted in 11 days

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) — A quarantine placed on a barn at Saratoga Race Course due to a positive case of equine herpesvirus will be lifted at the end of the month.

The New York Racing Association announced the plan Tuesday, provided none of the horses housed in the barn test positive.

An unnamed filly trained by Jorge Abreu and stabled in Barn 86 was sent to an equine hospital track after coming down with a fever. The racing association said a positive test for the virus came back last week on opening day, prompting a mandatory quarantine retroactive to July 11.

The 46 horses stabled in the barn are being monitored for fever and other symptoms. The quarantine will be lifted Aug. 1 if no new cases are detected. The horses are not permitted to train with the general horse population and cannot be entered in races.

It's a blow to trainer Kenny McPeek, who has 30 horses in Barn 86, including Eclipse winner Swiss Skydiver, last year’s champion 3-year-old filly.

___

More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports