Stable Area Restrictions Imposed at Southwest Tracks

Due to the Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1) outbreak and subsequent quarantine at Remington Park in Oklahoma, several southwestern regional tracks owned by Penn National Gaming, Inc. have imposed additional restrictions on access to their respective stable areas effective immediately.

Effective immediately no horse, including pony horses, will be permitted to enter the stable area of Zia Park, Sam Houston Race Park or Retama Park if they are coming from a county with a facility or race track that is under quarantine for the EHV-1 Equine Herpesvirus, or if they are coming from a county adjacent to a county where a quarantine has been issued.

In addition, all horses must have a current health certificate issued within 72 hours prior to arrival at the respective racetrack stable areas. Those certificates will also require certification that a veterinarian has physically examined each horse within 72 hours of issuing the health certificate; the horse does not exhibit any clinical signs of the virus; the temperature of the horse was normal at the time of the examination and verification by the owner or trainer that the horse has not been exposed to a suspected EHV-1 positive horse.

"These added requirements are out of an abundance of caution given the current circumstances at Remington Park," said Frank Hopf, Senior Director of Racing Operations at Sam Houston Race Park. "There is a high amount of shipping activity between tracks and training centers in this region and all horsemen and facilities need to take care to ensure this situation does not spread any further."

The requirements at all three locations will remain in effect at a minimum through the officially announced end of the quarantine time at Remington Park. Depending on any further circumstances additional restrictions or modified guidelines may be implemented.

Zia Park's current live race meet runs through December 18. Retama Park operates a training center during its current off-season and Sam Houston is scheduled to open its barn area on December 3 in advance of its January 10, 2020 season opener.

Horsemen who anticipate shipping horses to any of the three racetracks are encouraged to call the respective racing offices in advance to confirm the requirements for horses to enter the stable areas.