By T. D. Thornton
The Florida Department of Agriculture has imposed at least a 14-day quarantine on horses shipping in or out of Payson Park Thoroughbred Training Center after a recent shipper into the facility was confirmed on Feb. 29 to have the EHV-1 strain of the equine herpes virus.
“It is my understanding that the affected horse has been isolated [within the Payson property],” Jennifer Meale, the communications director for the Florida Department of Agriculture, told TDN on Tuesday. “We believe that the original horse with the infection was shipped from Virginia. There were six other horses together at that time. Four of them were offloaded in South Carolina.”
Meale did not know the final destination of the sixth horse on that van ride. The national Equine Disease Communication Center website reported that both Virginia and South Carolina authorities have placed under quarantine the premises where those horses had loaded and unloaded.
“At this time we are assessing the situation,” Meale said. “We expect that it will last for at least 14 days. But until our scientists further assess the situation, we will not have specifics on the precise duration of the quarantine.”
Mary Gallagher, the Payson general manager, and several trainers with horses stabled at Payson told TDN it was their belief that the quarantine had been imposed for 21 days.
“The only thing I can tell you is that we had a positive come in on one of the horses,” Gallagher said. “I won't discuss which horse it is. We're under quarantine for 21 days. No horses in or out.”
Separate from the state-mandated quarantine, Tampa Bay Downs posted a notice on Twitter that said “no horses from Payson Park will be admitted to Tampa Bay Downs until further notice.” Daily Racing Form reported that a similar policy is in effect at Gulfstream Park.
Payson, with nearly 500 stalls, a pair of one-mile dirt and turf training tracks, and lush, European-style galloping trails, paddocks, and turnout areas, is located in Indiantown, about 90 minutes from both Gulfstream and Tampa. Its motto is “Happy Horses Win,” and Forbes magazine featured the property last year as an upscale training center in a story titled “South Florida's Billionaire Racehorse Facility.”
Payson is the laid-back winter home of several high-profile Thoroughbred outfits, including stables trained by Bill Mott, Christophe Clement, Shug McGaughey and Roger Attfield.
“It happens. We hope that it's limited to the one horse that came up with the issue,” said Mott, who oversees 75 horses at Payson. “It puts any short-term plans on hold. We can continue training, and it's not going to affect anything there. We're just keeping our distance from the barn that's quarantined. [Our barn] is not under quarantine; we don't have a barn that's affected at this point. The majority of the horses here have probably been vaccinated for the herpes virus. We routinely vaccinate for that issue. I think it helps in the prevention of contracting the problem.”
Clement, with 72 horses at Payson, said his Florida string is mostly geared down for a winter break, so the ban on shipping won't affect him as adversely as it might other trainers.
“Somebody like me, at this time of the year, I don't have that many runners [in active training],” Clement said. “If somebody has a horse pointing for a stakes in the next two or three weeks, it's very annoying. In my case, my stable is being pointed for the New York meet coming up a bit later in the spring. So if you have to be in quarantine, Payson Park is the right place to do it. You have access to great paddocks and turnouts. Obviously, April and May would be a lot more [problematic] for my stable than February and March.”
EHV viruses are found in horses worldwide. The American Association of Equine Practitioners reports on its website that “almost all horses have been infected with the virus and have no serious side effects. It is unknown what causes some of the horses to develop the serious neurological forms that may be fatal.”
EHV has been in the news this winter in the Southwest part of the United States, where racing has been interrupted and facilities quarantined.
At least 72 horses in New Mexico tested positive for the virus earlier this year. The outbreak brought live racing to a halt at Sunland Park between Jan. 23. and Feb. 25. Turf Paradise Park in Arizona was also under quarantine for three weeks, but racing there was allowed to continue among horses already stabled on the grounds.
In EHV outbreaks, agriculture officials typically recommend biosecurity precautions such as taking horses' temperatures twice a day, increased hand washing by horse handlers, and disinfecting anything that a horse has touched or could touch
“It's the regular thing that we do anyway in the barn,” Clement said. “It's business as usual. [The temperature-taking] is nothing new for us.”
Gallagher would not comment on any potential risk the affected horse at Payson might have posed to other Thoroughbreds before it was quarantined.
“That's out of my wheelhouse. I can't classify that for you. I'm not a vet,” Gallagher said. “Every precaution that the state has provided for us to do, we've taken every single one.”
Gallagher seemed flustered by the attention the quarantine has generated.
“In all fairness, everybody finds this to be a field day. I'm surprised at the industry, to be honest with you,” Gallagher said. “Why am I surprised? Because my phone hasn't stopped ringing. I guess news is news, right? Even bad news. Word goes out—the state puts it out.”
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