Horses in One Barn at Churchill Downs Under Quarantine

A barn at Churchill Downs stabling 12 horses has been placed under quarantine while veterinary officials await test results from a horse recently sent from Churchill to an equine clinic, Churchill Downs Inc. equine medical director Dr. Will Farmer said Nov. 29.

Farmer declined to speculate about the nature of the ailment affecting the horse, though he said veterinarians have a "high suspicion" of what it is. He did not have an update on the health of the unidentified horse.

Two common equine diseases that often lead to quarantines are equine herpesvirus and strangles. Both are contagious.

This year, Fonner Park and Parx Racing had barns quarantined due to a strain of equine herpesvirus called EHV-1, while Horseshoe Indianapolis and Thistledown had quarantines due to strangles.

Quarantines, which are meant to reduce the chance of spread among the full horse population, typically remain in place on horses in barns until state veterinary officials receive follow-up testing that no tested horses are sick or asymptomatic carriers and a designated period of time elapses. They can sometimes last for two weeks or more.

A representative from the Office of the State Veterinarian at the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, the department that oversees quarantines in the state, could not be reached for comment.

"We are proactively going to test all of those horses in that barn tomorrow morning," Farmer said. "We will make a plan once all those results come back."

He said he anticipated those test results by late afternoon or early evening on Nov. 30.

Farmer declined to identify the trainer or trainers whose horses are in the affected barn.

Late November is a busy shipping time in Kentucky, with many horses sent south nearing or after the end of the Churchill Downs fall meet for winter racing in warmer climates. Churchill Downs wrapped up its meet Nov. 27.

In response to the quarantine, 1/ST Racing, which operates Santa Anita Park, Golden Gate Fields, and Gulfstream Park, among other racetracks and properties across the country, has instituted a ban on shippers from Churchill Downs, pending released veterinary findings and communication with Churchill Downs.

Horses shipping from Churchill Downs Trackside, a training center owned by Churchill Downs but located five miles from the facility, are not affected by the ban provided their health certificate indicates they were at Trackside, according to Dr. Dionne Benson, chief veterinary officer with 1/ST Racing. 

She said the 1/ST Racing ban could be adjusted depending on the test results and updates from Farmer and Kentucky Agriculture officials.

"We've been on the other side of this a couple of times," she said.