Why trainers are fighting a war they cannot win
Every effort is made to keep stables clean but this virus is unstoppable, reports Marcus Armytage
Most racing yards have biosecurity measures in place, but standards vary from the basic to comprehensive. The front line in protection against equine influenza is the annual, compulsory, flu-jab booster. The label from the vial is stuck in the horse’s passport and signed by the vet that administered it. If a horse arrives at the races with vaccination notices that are out of date, or the vet has forgotten to sign the passport, it is barred from running.
Mark Johnston, who has trained more winners in Britain than anyone and is a qualified vet, said he often gives his horses an extra vaccination on top of the annual booster. “Every horse gets one on arrival, whether they need it or not, and if we have a bout of coughing, which probably happens once a year, I’ll do the whole string,” he said. “We’ll probably batten down the hatches and I’m considering vaccinating across the board but I’ve been advised not to until we know what we’re dealing with.”
At Aidan O’brien’s Ballydoyle stable in Ireland, horses will have their own bridles, but for most yards that is simply too expensive and a stable worker will use the same bridle for each horse he or she rides, dipping the bit, which goes in the horse’s mouth, in a bucket of disinfectant between lots. To prevent the spread of ringworm and the like, trainers often use a clean cotton cloth – a “rubber” – under the saddle where a horse sweats most and a girth guard – both of which will be laundered each day.
Most yards have some sort of isolation yard or boxes in a far corner to which incoming horses or those that are sick are housed while they are blood tested or have their trachea washed for signs of illness. Most runners go through the same process of tests 24-36 hours before a race. However, if a yard picks up a bug, it is hard to stop it spreading. American barns are like a boarding-school dormitory and many older-style stables have grilles between boxes because horses enjoy the company of other horses.
Transport is a potential area for contamination. Trainers can try to avoid contact with other stables, although the chances are, their horse will be standing in a stable next to another trainer’s horse when it gets to the racecourse or lining up almost touching it at the start. Some trainers steadfastly refuse to share a horsebox with another stable, while others, in an attempt to cut costs, prefer to share transport, though most have their own two-horse lorries.
As with many things, you can have all the biosecurity in place and, as Donald Mccain is probably thinking, it might come down to bad luck and one horse being in the wrong place at the wrong time.