Fonner Park Moves Forward Under Restrictions

Racing will continue at Fonner Park this week as the Grand Island, Neb. track adjusts to a quarantine put in place after three horses tested positive for equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy, the neurological form of equine herpesvirus.

Fonner Park took entries April 20 for the an April 22 card. Friday's card saw 49 entries in seven races, an average of seven horses a race. That is down about two horses per race from the comparable April 15 card, when Fonner saw 71 horses entered in eight races for an average of 8.9 horses a race.

Fonner chief executive officer Bruce Swihart said state officials—including representatives of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, a state epidemiologist, a veterinary field officer, and an additional vet—met with horsemen and track officials Wednesday in about an hour-long informational session on the disease and policies going forward, as the track plans to race with the available horses on the grounds.



The Nebraska Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with Fonner Park management, quarantined the about 800 horses located at the track's 16 barns for at least 21 days. Horses located in the Red Barn (where the affected horses were stabled) will not be allowed to race. 

"We basically had a meeting with all of the horsemen and women to talk about bio-security-type issues," Swihart said. "They explained more about the virus."



Swihart said there has been some initial development of a plan to have the horses in the Red Barn get out and exercise on the training track a few times a week.



"We want to try to make everybody as safe as possible and avoid any future exposure. That's the main goal of it," Swihart said.