Barn 28 at Belmont Park has been placed under a 14-day precautionary quarantine due to a confirmed case of strangles found in a horse who resided in that barn, according to a release issued Saturday night by the New York Racing Association and New York State Gaming Commission.
Barn 28 contains horses trained by George Weaver, Todd Pletcher, and Rudy Rodriguez.
According to the release, the 2-year-old gelding Mo Curls, trained by Weaver, was referred to Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center on Friday. He was subsequently tested for a number of potential ailments, and a positive test for strangles was returned on Saturday afternoon. The horse began treatment immediately at Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center.
Strangles is a contagious bacterial infection that generally affects a horse’s respiratory system and causes symptoms similar to those of strep throat in humans. When properly diagnosed and treated, strangles is not considered a life-threatening infection and horses can recover fully.
Following confirmation of the positive strangles test, NYRA and the NYSGC implemented standard infectious-disease protocols, including restricting access to the horses in the quarantined barn, establishing a 24-hour security watch, mandating regular temperature checks for the horses in that barn, and enacting biosecurity measures for all individuals requiring access to Barn 28.
The confirmed case of strangles at Belmont comes one day after a 14-day quarantine for a case of strangles at a barn at Saratoga was lifted.
During the current quarantine period at Belmont, afebrile/asymptomatic horses stabled in Belmont’s barn 28 will not be permitted to enter races or train with the general horse population. Horses in barn 28 will be allowed to train on the Belmont Park training track after regular training hours conclude at 10:30 a.m.
Typically, other jurisdictions don’t allow shippers from tracks where there is a barn under quarantine. There are several horses based at Belmont Park, including Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone, who are pointing to stakes at Churchill Downs on June 28. It was not clear Saturday night if those horses would still be allowed to ship to Churchill.
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