All Thursday racing is CANCELLED due to equine flu outbreak across Britain and Ireland

All racing at British racecourses on Thursday was cancelled late on Wednesday night because of an outbreak of equine influenza, in what is believed to be the first time that such action has been taken since 2001.

Three horses in an active racing yard tested positive for the highly contagious disease, and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) took the drastic measures to call off meetings at four UK tracks in a bid to prevent it spreading further.

They said horses from that yard had raced on Wednesday at Ayr and Ludlow, which meant there was a potential for several yards across the country and in Ireland to have become affected. 

All racing across Britain on Thursday has been called off due to an equine influenza outbreak

The BHA said it had the unanimous backing of its industry veterinary committee to cancel racing on Thursday, which was due to take place at Huntingdon, Doncaster, Ffos Las and Chelmsford.

It is thought that this is the first time since the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001 that the BHA have had to cancel all racing on a day owing to an animal disease. Racing is often abandoned due to severe weather.

This case is particularly worrying given that the horses that tested positive had been vaccinated.

With Betfair Super Saturday at Newbury this weekend, and the Cheltenham Festival only a few weeks away, the racing world will be keen to ensure that the impact of this equine influenza outbreak is kept to a minimum.

Racing on Thursday was due to take place at Huntingdon, Doncaster, Ffos Las and Chelmsford

A BHA statement said: ‘The British Horseracing Authority (BHA), with unanimous support of the BHA’s industry veterinary committee, has taken the decision to cancel racing at all British racecourses on Thursday 7 February 2019. This is following the BHA being informed this evening by the Animal Health Trust of three confirmed Equine Influenza positives from vaccinated horses in an active racing yard.’

It continued: ‘The BHA has worked quickly to identify which yards could have potentially been exposed today and identify the further actions required. The BHA is presently communicating with yards potentially exposed to ensure appropriate quarantine and biosecurity measures are put in place and horse movements restricted to avoid possible further spread of the disease.

‘The full extent of potential exposure is unknown and we are working quickly to understand as much as we can to assist our decision making.

‘The BHA is working closely with the Animal Health Trust and will issue a further update tomorrow. We recommend that any trainer who has concerns about the health status of any of their horses should contact their veterinarian.’

The unanimous decision was made to stop the flu outbreak spreading to other race horses