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We can’t risk losing control… it was the right call for the British Horseracing Authority to shut the sport down over flu outbreak
- It makes sense for racing to be halted until the flu outbreak is under control
- Big meetings like Newbury and Wawrick will be lost but it is the right decision
- There are more than 100 stables and 1,000 horses that need to be checked
- All of Thursday’s race meetings were cancelled as the sport was on lockdown
Peter Scudamore For Daily Mail
Rumours were flying all over the place on Thursday and it makes good sense for racing to be halted until we all have time to see where we are.
Yes, big meetings will be lost on Saturday when Newbury and Warwick were due to stage prestigious races, which would have acted as trials for the Cheltenham Festival.
But Cheltenham might not even take place if this outbreak of an extremely contagious virus is not contained.
An outbreak of Equine Influenza saw all race meetings cancelled until at least next Wednesday
It is better to be safe than sorry and the British Horseracing Authority have done the right thing by closing the sport down.
I reckon it will be hard to find anyone who thinks they should have let it continue.
A little bit of breathing space was needed because every stable which had runners at Ayr or Ludlow on Wednesday and contains a horse which came into contact with one of the runners from the infected Donald McCain stable has to be tested. That’s more than 100 stables and as many as 1,000 horses.
Peter Scudamore, eight-time champion jockey, insists it is the right call to suspend all racing
The yard of my partner Lucinda Russell, who had runners at Ayr, will be tested on Friday. That’s around 80 horses that have to be swabbed and the samples sent for analysis at a laboratory. It is not something that should be done in a rush.
Our horses are split between two yards about 15 minutes drive apart but we are observing strict bio-security protocols. We have split the staff so there is no crossover and even Lucinda and I are making sure we only set foot in one of the stables.
It is a minor inconvenience but if the sport can gain peace of mind by halfway through next week it will be worth it.
There will be a cost of the shutdown to the betting industry, racecourses, jockeys, owners and trainers. But the cost of not acting and losing control of the situation would have been far greater.
Checking over 1,000 horses with swabs is not something that can be done in a hurry by vets
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