Ireland races on without British runners after swift action

Racing in Ireland carried on as scheduled at Thurles on Thursday but British entries will not be accepted for now following the outbreak of equine flu in vaccinated horses.

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's chief veterinary officer Dr Lynn Hillyer has stated that prompt correspondence from the BHA on Wednesday evening enabled the regulator to communicate with Irish trainers who had runners at Ayr and Ludlow before their horses came off the ferry.

That time lag, a luxury British trainers didn't enjoy, allowed Gordon Elliott, John Carr, Shane Nolan, Stuart Crawford, Ronan McNally, Caroline McCaldin and David Christie to arrange for their runners to be diverted to isolation yards away from their racing stables.

While there was a case of equine flu reported in a vaccinated thoroughbred in an Irish yard last month, that particular incident was contained and Hillyer is satisfied that the situation here is under control at the moment.

"For now, we are continuing to race in Ireland," she told the Racing Post on Thursday.

"At the moment the disease risk here has not increased from yesterday morning, and that is largely due to the BHA contacting us rapidly on Wednesday night, which enabled us to take action as regards the horses that ran in Britain on Wednesday.

"All of those runners are in isolation and did not return to their yards. We are continuing to support and advise trainers, and the next key step is further news from the BHA, when they have a chance to understand results of investigations they are carrying on now. That will inform us as to our level of risk."

When it subsequently emerged that yards with runners at Monday's Wolverhampton fixture were being shut down by the BHA, County Meath handler Keith Clarke was brought into the equation.

However, Hillyer insisted that matters were being carefully monitored, and Clarke will not send his declared runner Poitin to Dundalk on Friday as a precautionary measure.

"My horses are isolated anyway when they come into the yard after being away," Clarke said, "but the two horses in question, their temperatures are normal, their nasal passages are fine and their glands are fine. The incubation period is three days, but it can be longer when they are vaccinated. I'm 99pc sure everything is 100pc but we'll do what's right in the best interests of racing, so Poitin won't run."

Hillyer said of Clark'e sitation: "He has been working with his vet and he has things under control. I've no concerns about that at all. I've been speaking to vets across the country for the last few weeks, and one of those vets is the vet dealing with this situation, so this veterinary surgeon is very proactive and very experienced."

Precaution

Of the decision not to allow any British entries until further notice, Hillyer said: "We have taken the precaution of restricting entries here from Britain. It is a prudent step in the short term for us to restrict runners here from Britain.

"It won't affect north-south movements here, but it is very important that we are acting responsibly and taking precautionary measures."

As for Irish trainers with horses entered in Britain in the coming days, she sad: "The advice at the moment to Irish trainers is to sit tight and wait for more information. The situation in Britain is evolving rapidly and we therefore need to evolve our plans as well."

The IHRB has been liaising with the Irish Equine Centre – where testing for equine flu is provided for free – since before the advisory note in relation to the outbreak was issued on January 18, and Hillyer said that she is not aware of any other incident of equine flu being identified in a vaccinated thoroughbred in Ireland apart from the initial case last month.

"We've been working with the trainers and their vets for some weeks to make sure the right steps are being taken, and the right steps are accurate diagnosis, isolation and enhanced security," she said.

Gordon Elliott, whose five Ayr runners have been diverted to an isolation yardCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Elliott, who had five runners at Ayr, confirmed he diverted those horses to a yard around 15 miles away from his Cullentra base.

"We've been told it's a million-to one chance that it will impact our runners, but we're not going to take any chances," he said. "We'll leave them in quarantine for as long as we have to.

Elliott has seven runners at Thurles today, while the next scheduled Irish meeting is at Dundalk on Friday.

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