Big news has come out of the Meadows, as the track has announced that it has been forced to cancel its program of live racing for today (Wednesday, January 24), and that no horses can be moved in or out of the raceway until further notice.
The cancellation of Wednesday’s live racing at the meadows has come due to track conditions.
Kim Hankins, the executive director of the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association, has announced that, by order of the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission, no horses can be moved in or out of the raceway until further notice due to a horse having tested positive for equine herpesvirus.
Hankins conveyed that further updates will be announced once decisions are made.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture was notified on Wednesday (January 24) that a Standardbred horse at the Meadows had showed clinical signs consistent with EHM. The horse tested positive for EHV-1 and is currently under medical treatment.
Two barns at the Meadows are currently under quarantine due to a horse that moved earlier from the original exposed barn. The horse caused the second barn’s movement restriction is not showing clinical signs.
A daily monitoring period for clinical signs in the remaining exposed, asymptomatic horses is ongoing.
(With files from the Meadows, the MSOA, and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture)