Belmont Park Barn Under Quarantine After Strangles Case

The New York Racing Association and the New York State Gaming Commission have placed Barn 28 at Belmont Park under a 14-day precautionary quarantine until further notice due to a positive case of strangles in that barn. NYRA, the NYSGC, and the NYS Department of Agriculture remain in close contact regarding any further precautionary measures that may be required. The latest quarantine comes after strangles was detected in a horse at Saratoga Race Course late last month. A barn there was similarly quarantined for a two-week period. Strangles is a bacterial infection of the equine upper respiratory tract and highly contagious. The disease can be spread through horse-to-horse contact or by humans, including through tack, buckets, and other environmental factors. Cases occasionally occur at racetracks, farms, and training centers. When properly diagnosed and treated, affected horses can recover. Barn 28 contains horses trained by George Weaver, Todd Pletcher, and Rudy Rodriguez. The 2-year-old gelding Mo Curls, who is trained by Weaver, was referred to Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center June 13. He was subsequently tested for a number of potential ailments, and a positive test for strangles was returned June 14. The horse began treatment immediately at Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center. Following confirmation of a 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. Overseen by Dr. Sarah Hinchliffe, the director of NYRA's veterinary department, in consultation with the NYSGC, the Barn 28 quarantine is effective immediately. During the initial quarantine period, these horses in Barn 28 will not be permitted to enter races or train among the general horse population. Non-feverish/asymptomatic horses stabled in Barn 28 will have isolated training hours on the Belmont Park dirt training track following the close of training for the general horse population at 10:30 a.m. ET. As of June 14, no additional feverish horses have been identified. NYRA has not imposed any shipping restrictions for horses in the general horse population entering or exiting Belmont Park. However, other tracks or training centers—or the veterinarian officials that oversee equine health in their states—may institute their own restrictions.