A midweek resumption for horse racing "appears a lot closer" following news on Saturday that "no new positives have been found for equine influenza," after scientists "had worked night and day at the Animal Health Trust to process swabs taken from hundreds of racehorses," according to Chris Cook of the London GUARDIAN. That was "especially good news" for Durham trainer Rebecca Menzies, whose horses tested clear "in spite of the worrying symptoms exhibited by three of her charges." She said, "My team here are all delighted. My grateful thanks on behalf of ourselves and all racing fans to the huge amount of work by the British Horseracing Authority in the last few days. Undoubtedly the actions taken will ensure we are back racing as soon as possible." The BHA is "still on course to make a decision on Monday about whether the sport can resume next week," possibly as soon as Wednesday. In the meantime, it "urged caution about reading too much into the latest news," noting that results are known for only 720 swabs out of more than 2,000 received. BHA Dir of Equine Health David Sykes said, "There are many more tests to analyze. The nature of the incubation period means that a negative test now doesn’t mean that a horse has never had this flu virus." For that reason, the 174 stables under lockdown will remain as such for the time being (GUARDIAN, 2/9). The BBC reported the BHA confirmed the strain of this outbreak is the Florida Clade 1 strain, endemic to North and South America -- a "more virulent type than the Clade 2 strain that's endemic to Europe." British horses are vaccinated against both strains, "but the more powerful American flu can affect vaccinated horses." The decision to suspend all racing and place almost 200 yards in quarantine has been criticized in some quarters, with leading trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies calling it an "overreaction" (BBC, 2/9).
ALL BETS ARE OFF: REUTERS' Smout & Mason reported the horse racing shutdown is "costing the bookmaking industry tens of millions of pounds," Betfair said on Friday. It added that it "could get much worse if the outbreak is prolonged." Betfair’s Super Saturday hurdle day of racing at Newbury in southern England was canceled. While all bets are off in the racing stakes, bookmakers "have started taking wagers on how long the suspension will last." Betfair Head of Media Barry Orr said, "It’s far from ideal for us ... we sponsor all seven races." He said that he was not sure if the Newbury event would be rescheduled. Orr said, "From a bookmaking point of view, the cost is running into tens of millions of pounds. If it was a prolonged period, like we had with foot and mouth in 2001, we’d be talking hundreds of millions of pounds across the industry" (REUTERS, 2/8).
