Trainers under Ayr lockdown finally given go-ahead

The 22 yards remaining in lockdown following the equine flu outbreak were on Wednesday night given the all-clear to have runners again, preventing a walkover in Kelso's feature chase on Thursday.

Trainers who had runners at Ayr on February 6, where a horse who subsequently tested positive had competed, were denied the chance to race at any of the four British meetings on Wednesday as racing returned from a self-imposed six-day break.

But after a risk assessment based on the results of tests, the BHA gave the go-ahead for runners from the locked-down yards, apart from that of Donald McCain, to return to action.

That spelled relief for the group of largely northern and Scottish-based trainers, including Stuart Coltherd, Nicky Richards and Lucinda Russell, who had been nervously awaiting clearance from the BHA to saddle runners at Thursday's Kelso meeting.

A statement from the BHA on Wednesday evening said: "All 22 trainers who had runners at Ayr and were awaiting results are now cleared to run after a discussion between the BHA and its vet committee.

"All horses who ran at Ayr returned negative tests and the majority of other horses from those yards were also tested and all found negative."

The BHA had issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon that the 22 trainers who had runners at Ayr – where McCain's Raise A Spark, who tested positive, ran – would be treated as one block, meaning clearance to resume racing along with the rest of Britain would be granted collectively rather than individually.

Nine trainers affected by the Ayr case had their horses withdrawn on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, among them Coltherd, who can now run Grand National hopeful Captain Redbeard in a match against Cheltenham Gold Cup contender Definitly Red in Kelso’s Malcolm Jefferson Memorial Chase on Thursday.

Nicky Richards: claims trainers who hadn't been to Ayr sent in samples later and had results back firstCredit: Edward Whitaker

Richards has five declared at Kelso on Thursday but was critical that the all-clear had not come earlier, feeling the BHA and the Animal Health Trust should have been able to prioritise the testing of horses in the care of trainers who had runners at the Ayr meeting.

"Whenever a trainer had runners at Ayr, we were led to believe that they would get priority treatment," said Richards on Wednesday.

"I know for a fact that there were samples sent in 24 hours after mine from people who hadn't been to Ayr and they had their results back before me. I don’t understand why they didn’t get Edinburgh and Liverpool University set up for any emergency like this.”

Much of the criticism levelled at the BHA by some within the industry has been that it had backed itself into a corner should more centres of infection emerge either now or later.

But the authority believes that the amount of data and evidence gathered in the week since the shutdown has given them a much clearer picture as to the range of options available in the event that positive cases emerge beyond the yards of McCain and Simon Crisford.

David Sykes: The AHT have analysed more tests in the last five days than they would usually process in a year.e AHT

David Sykes, BHA director of equine health and welfare, told the Racing Post: "In order to ensure that racing can return safely, with the minimum of disruption, we have been working with the Animal Health Trust to process an unprecedented amount of tests. They have analysed more tests in the last five days than they would usually process in a year.

"This has allowed us to build up a good picture of the health of our herd and how effective our control measures have been in containing the spread of the disease, and will assist us in handling any further cases. However, the way we would manage any further outbreaks would depend entirely on the individual circumstances."

Some good news for Crisford

Simon Crisford revealed on Wednesday evening that all four of the horses from his yard who initially tested positive for equine flu have returned negative results from the latest round of tests.

The yard will need to return a second set of negatives from all its horses before it is removed from the list of establishments considered to be harbouring the virus.

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