New Mexico Barn Areas Closed to Remington Park Horses

The New Mexico Racing Commission Nov. 21 ordered Zia Park and the Downs at Albuquerque to close their barn areas to horses originating from Remington Park, where this month a horse has tested positive for Equine Herpesvirus-1.

The regulator's order had the support of the State Veterinarian of the New Mexico Livestock Board.

The decision comes ahead of one of New Mexico's biggest days of racing, the Land of Enchantment day Nov. 27 at Zia Park, which features seven stakes races. Numerous horses and several favorites entered on the program had either raced last out at Remington Park or had recorded workouts there in recent weeks. 

"The sole reasoning behind the decision is to protect our New Mexico horse population and horsemen from suffering the way they did during the EHV-1 outbreak of 2016," said NMRC executive director Ismael "Izzy" Trejo. "Despite the decision to ban Remington Park based horses, Zia Park still has some solid horses shipping in for the Land of Enchantment card from other jurisdictions."

The ban on Remington horses will remain in place until further notice.

Other tracks across the country have also instituted restrictions on Remington shippers, standard procedure after the discovery of contagious virus, which spreads among equines through inhalation of respiratory secretions and direct contact.