Breeders' Cup Hurdles Shipping, Quarantine Challenges

The arrival of the Breeders' Cup also means the arrival of horses from across the globe. 

Getting them to Keeneland is no small task, no matter if they are arriving internationally or from coast-to-coast.

"It's a very expensive proposition for the owners. We spent quite a bit preparing ourselves for their arrival. But (the cost of) air travel internationally has only increased," said Breeders' Cup executive vice president & chief racing officer Dora Delgado.

Tex Sutton Equine Transport once had a plane under lease, but when that expired, the airline chose not to renew the agreement. When that happened, getting horses in the air became more complicated. Since then, Tex Sutton has partnered with FedEx to transport horses, working throughout the year on their scheduled service to get horses around the country.

Top Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) contender Flightline  arrived on one of two FedEx flights bringing horses from Ontario, Calif. to Louisville, Ky. That charter came in Oct. 23, the other arrives Oct. 30.

"That suffices because they can hold up to 30 head on a 767 so we're able to accommodate all the horses coming from California on either the scheduled service or on these charters that we've done," said Tex Sutton president Rich Clark. 

For the international competitors coming to the Breeders' Cup, Delgado said a Qatar Airways plane has been chartered to bring 39 horses. It will originate in France and stop in England and Ireland before arriving in Louisville Oct. 29.

Had there been more than one pre-entry from Japan, there might have been another charter flight to accommodate runners based there. Delgado is hopeful more contenders from Japan will target next year's Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Park, where they can fly direct into Los Angeles. 

Once the horses land, they will be greeted by the United States Department of Agriculture, and upon arriving in Lexington, go into quarantine at Keeneland.

Preparing the stalls for quarantine measures that met USDA criteria was an expensive effort. It's a cost that increases each year.

"Part of it has to do with regulations that the USDA imposes on us in our temporary quarantine build-out," Delgado said. "There are things that give them a comfort level that add a lot of expense to the event's bottom line and some of those things have to do (with)...Brexit. British horses can no longer be stabled with Irish and French horses." 

Godolphin's contenders arrive on their own plane, which requires another dedicated quarantine area.

And because of USDA specifications, the cost of quarantine is rising. The Breeders' Cup will take over existing space at Keeneland, but they must meet stringent details to be used. These include double screens that prevent airborne vectors, flying insects, and birds from entering; air locks need to be built; barriers on stall walls that horses can't lick or chew; and the horses need to be on impervious floors. All of these need to be constructed at each host site, where all of the stalls being used needed to be dug out six to eight inches. 

"There's not enough in the cut through between sections of a barn, the walkway, that horses can complete a circuit to put a complete solid barrier between each of those units to still have enough room to do an interior walking ring," Delgado said. "And because the horses are in this barn for 42 hours, they're not allowed to go out. They have to be able to walk internally so that they maintain physical fitness."

Because they cannot build two interior walking rings, the Breeders' Cup had to build exterior walking rings attached to the main unit. 

Delgado said the cost of the quarantine facilities at Keeneland runs approximately $500,000-$750,000.

That amount doesn't include the USDA user fees for supervising the quarantine period; the costs of our international liaisons, the International Racing Bureau; shipping costs related to the importation and exportation of the horses as well as the plane costs.

"We'd like to have a better solution for these temporary build-outs that then have to go back to their normal status so that their domestic horse population can then use those barns again...It's something that probably needs a permanent solution, but we haven't figured it out yet," Delgado said.