Joe Kelly, track manager at Truro Raceway, has said that he hopes to learn today the operating status of the Nova Scotia racetrack after the facility had to cancel a 12-dash card on Sunday, February 22 on a directive from the Maritime Provinces Harness Racing Commission.
Dr. Paul Hogan, director of racing for the MPHRC, ordered the cancellation after he received a report that a horse stabled in the paddock area was ill.
The horse in question was to be tested to determine if he has contracted Equine Strangles, an infectious disease. Owned by a Prince Edward Island horseman, the sick horse had been left in the paddock area after racing on Saturday, February 14.
The racing commission had allowed Truro Raceway to stage the Sunday card after quarantining some nine horses last week after another horse tested positive for the strangles.
The MPHRC also allowed for horses to be shipped in to race on Sunday and there was no restrictions of movements in and out of the track, except for two stable areas where the quarantine was imposed.
On Monday, Scott Daniels of Truro said he had been advised that one of his horses, the eight-year-old pacer Justins Choice, had tested positive for the strangles.
Daniels, a veteran horseman and Standardbred Canada active director for Nova Scotia, said the horse was showing no sign of illness. Justins Choice had been tested because he was stabled in the same barn as the horse that had tested positive.
There were no reports of the results of testing on eight other horses.
Kelly said he understood the racing commission planned a conference call with veterinarians and track management to discuss the problem.
An earlier strangles scare at the track resulted in some 40 horses being scratched after the racing commission banned ship-ins after the draw had been made. The MPHRC had banned the traffic of horses in and out of the track at that time. The restrictions were lifted a week later.
There were no confirmed cases of the strangles identified in the first investigation. Steve Morton, president of the Truro Harness Horse Owners, said at the time he believed some of the suspected horses had contracted a strain of virus that was making the rounds.
(Atlantic Post Calls)
I applaud Truro for the
I applaud Truro for the measures they're taking to control this outbreak. If only Edmonton Northlands had such procedures and precautions actively in place, we would not be facing the possibility of a province-wide epidemic now. Strangles were confirmed at Northlands during the 2008 thoroughbred meet; and now the standardbreds are suffering due to lack of action on Northlands part. Already, strangles are showing up in farms which had horse connections with Northlands. FOR SHAME !!!