The Scout has provided their seven tips for day one of the Grand National Festival.
Month: April 2023
Grand National star Red Rum runs again as hologram
A hologram of Grand National star Red Rum has gone on show in the city it won the race 50 years ago.
Success Of Amnion Product In Fonner Park EHV Outbreak Could Lead To A New Way Of Dealing With Outbreaks
One of the best places for a disease to spread is to be in an active, stressful location. So, when equine herpesvirus (EHV) is detected at a racetrack, it can spread faster than a turf sprinter if the right precautions aren't taken.
In the days building up to the start of Fonner Park's 2022 racing season, a horse presented clinical signs of EHV-1. This wasn't the first time that the Nebraska racetrack had experienced the potentially deadly disease, so officials were quick to set up a quarantine around Barn R.
“We had an outbreak six or seven years ago, and Dr. [David] Radechel and the health department did a great job of shutting this episode down quickly,” said Tom Sage, executive director of the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission.
Radechel is a state veterinarian for the Nebraska commission, which put him at the helm of the state's response to the 2022 outbreak.
“In our favor, (Barn R) is already set away from the others here at Fonner, so we had that advantage [for better quarantine practices],” said Radechel. “We hoped that the isolation in a far barn would help in the containment.”
Two horses had already been euthanized from advanced clinical signs of equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM), the neurologic form of EHV-1. Radechel and Fonner Park officials were hoping to prevent any further losses.
They didn't know that help would be coming to them from a Kentucky veterinarian's previous work with raccoons.
Dr. Rob Holland, a well-known veterinary immunologist based in Lexington, had used AniCell products to combat resistant wound infections and was familiar with the inherent antimicrobial properties of amnion.
EquusCell is a product of AniCell, which is derived from all-natural amnion tissue-based products for horses. All living things were grown from amnion tissue and science has shown that a fetus doesn't just grow from the inside out, but also grows from the outside in, utilizing the amniotic material to aid in the single greatest growth spurt any animal will see. AniCell uses this technology to address tissue-based injuries in horses and dogs.
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Holland was curious to explore the impact of amnion products on infectious disease in racoons at the Kentucky Wildlife Center, since the amnion unit protects the developing fetus from infectious disease during pregnancy and can heal the fetus from untoward effects of infections. Holland wanted to see what the all-natural regenerative product would do for parvovirus in raccoons, both in terms of controlling the infection and intestinal damage caused by the virus. The findings were exciting — the product kept the raccoons from succumbing to the usually deadly disease and repaired the intestinal damage, helping them to recover.
It was happenstance that Brandon Ames, founder and president of AniCell Biotech, and Dr. Tammi Epp reached out to Dr. Angela Pelzel-McCluskey of the USDA.
“We talked with Dr. Angela Pelzel-McCluskey with regards to what we should be screening for in the onboarding process of donor mares into our foaling facility in Arizona to ensure product safety,” recalls Ames. “It was a side conversation regarding the capabilities of amnion and what the product was used for that brought forth the antimicrobial properties of amnion, Dr. Holland's work and the possibility of helping with the company's amnion technology being able to help curb EHV-1 outbreaks that currently had no medical solution.”
Pelzel-McCluskey is an epidemiologist for the USDA-APHIS and her role requires her to track infectious diseases in horses. She had long wished for a product that could be sprayed up the horse's nose to stop the shedding of EHV-1 when there's an outbreak to block the spread. In her discussion with Ames, she wondered whether AniCell could protect a horse's respiratory tract from viral illness the same way it could protect and heal a raccoon's gastrointestinal tract. Based on nasal administration science that AniCell had done in 2018 for use on racehorses that bleed through their nose during racing, Ames did not believe this was the best route of administration for the product. Instead, he recommended the product be given subcutaneously to try to combat EHV.
“I've tried other types of treatments for EHV-1 in the past, but Brandon had told me about a horse in California who had been exposed to an EHV-1 outbreak and was just starting to show clinical signs,” said Pelzel-McCluskey. “A few days after the first injection of AniCell's product, the horse was clinically normal.”
The best way to test this product was to find an outbreak. Then, Pelzel-McCluskey got a phone call from Nebraska alerting her to an EHV-1 outbreak at the racetrack. Pelzel-McCluskey reached out to Nebraska's State Veterinarian, Dr. Roger Dudley, who had just placed the racetrack under quarantine with a plan.
“Dr. Tammi Epp, our Senior Scientist and Technical Veterinarian for AniCell, designed a protocol to test 60 head, and follow their response with virus detection diagnostics and other testing to determine the success in minimizing the outbreak, but when we arrived, our treatment pool had expanded to 112 horses,” said Ames. “When we arrived, there were two dead, two that were neurologic, and the rest had been exposed.”
Radechel, Epp and Pelzel-McCluskey, along with Ames, worked together along with the Fonner Park horsemen and others to tackle the outbreak. Radechel collected blood samples from horses in the quarantined barn prior to AniCell's arrival and helped with testing. Nebraska's Department of Agriculture and the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission set the boundaries for the quarantined barn, added isolation barn, and held meetings with the horsemen.
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If you appreciate our work, you can support us by subscribing to our Patreon stream. Learn more.“The horsemen were a little apprehensive for some potential costs and any side effects to the horses,” said Radechel. “It came down to having nothing to lose, other than additional horses and the potential of being trapped at the track a long time. So, we thought it was worth a shot.”
The plan went into action. Pelzel-McCluskey gave parameters for the horses in the other barns and still in training. The racing commission and track took input from the company and Pelzel-McCluskey and made it all work in a beneficial way for the horses and horsemen. The company gave the product injections at a very discounted rates, did pre- and post-treatment testing.
The veterinary team used a two-dose protocol of EquusCell at Day 0 and Day 4, given to horses in the quarantined barn at the start of the outbreak. They hoped the treatment would kick the immune system back to a healthy level with the strength to address the virus.
One of the highlights of the quarantine was when one horse in quarantine went down with neurologic symptoms. Veterinarians feared that the mare might be the third casualty to the disease.
“She was extremely frightened, and we thought we would have to euthanize her because she was in such bad shape,” Pelzel-McCluskey recalled.
Ames was determined to help the mare. On the third day, the mare had improved in all ways, including the neurologic exam. Within five days from her first treatment, she was considered “almost normal” in her exams. Workers created a small pen in the back of the isolation barn for the mare, and she was jumping around and cantering in the pen.
“It was crazy. She was initially Grade 4 (on the neurologic evaluation), and her recovery was impressive,” said Pelzel-McCluskey. “I was wrong on the impact it can have on neuro horses. It really helped her.”
This was another surprise beyond the antiviral properties of the product – veterinarians are hopeful that this mare's improvement means AniCell's regenerative capabilities could help minimize damage, protect neurologic tissue, modulate the inflammation and help revascularize and repair the damaged tissue in the midst of neurologic disease. They noted the pathology of the neurological form of EHV has been likened to ischemic stroke in humans, and amnion has been noted to have positive effects in improving stroke recovery.
A few months after the outbreak, the filly ran in a race at Canterbury Park and won.
In the end, horses were saved and the time for quarantine was cut shorter than if nothing had been done. Fonner Park horsemen practiced high-level biosecurity practices before, but Radechel and the horsemen instituted even stricter polices throughout the quarantine.
“We utilized a second barn as a second-degree quarantine, and as soon as a horse tested positive in the first quarantine barn (Barn R), we moved that horse to the second barn,” said Radechel. “We tested on a regular basis until everything came back negative and the assay levels showed the infection dropping, titers were on the decline in a short period of time.
Additional and unexpected results included the prevention of further spread beyond the horses initially infected, reduction in the virus reaching the bloodstream, which is prerequisite to the development of the neurologic form of the disease and more horses succumbing to the infection, and a possible impact on the ability of the virus to persist within an infected horse. In the Fonner Park outbreak, AniCell veterinarians had found that the virus had been eradicated and the spread had ceased, on average, in 2.3 days.
“The second level quarantine barn helped,” Radechel said.
Authorities at Fonner Park did not allow horses from the infected barns to continuing working through the quarantine.
“It didn't make sense to me that if you have a horse in that barn where the virus has killed two already that you'd want to stress your animal more,” Radechel said. “So, I told [horsemen] they could walk in individual walkers while their stalls were cleaned, but that was it. Then there was disinfection, cleaning and good biosecurity was demanded of everyone involved.”
Radechel and Sage were quick to praise the horsemen for their hard work and flexibility during the outbreak.
“We really had the greatest teamwork with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, Fonner Park, racing officials and the members of Brandon's team,” said Sage.
Now, a year later, Pelzel-McCluskey and the researchers at AniCell are still looking through data and looking for more outbreaks to test the product.
“We're still looking at data, and we'd like to get more data,” said Pelzel-McCluskey. “(With EHV-1,) it's an all or nothing thing — we need every horse that is exposed to stop shedding. We know that if you can get this in them early in treatment, in the neurologic patients, we have had some great success. So, that's a positive.”
This was the largest and most detailed field study for this product. From here, AniCell will begin testing the validity of findings from this field study in scientifically-controlled experiments conducted by university experts.
“This technology is definitely novel with the antiviral, immunomodulating, and regenerative properties that this upcoming future research will help us better understand,” said Epp.
However, Pelzel-McCluskey knows there's still so much work to be done before EHV-1 can be fully controlled.
“We don't have a way to prevent outbreaks right now — you can't stop the index case because all of the horses have seen this virus by the time they are two years old,” she said. “The horse is carrying herpesvirus for life. If at any given time, when he's stressed, the horse can start shedding the virus. Most of the time the horse is fine and looks clinically normal. The majority aren't causing outbreaks but at any given moment a horse can start shedding. We don't have anything that stops the intermittent shedding in a horse population, like a racetrack.”
The post Success Of Amnion Product In Fonner Park EHV Outbreak Could Lead To A New Way Of Dealing With Outbreaks appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
The Kentucky Oaks Top 10: Lack of Points Have Big Names on Outside Looking In
The last of the prep races for the GI Kentucky Oaks have been run, which means we have a pretty good idea who will be in the starting gate come May 5 in a race that is limited to 14 starters. As of now, you need 50 points to make the field, which is not good news for a handful of fillies who once looked like locks to make the race. Last year's 2-year-old filly champion, Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief), who held the top spot in this poll for several weeks, has 48 points and is 15th on the list. She needs just one defection to get in. Other notable fillies not among the top 14 are Julia Shining (Curlin), Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief) and Punchbowl (Uncle Mo). They are 17th, 18th and 19th, respectively, in the points standings. Since none of these horses are guaranteed to race in the Oaks they have been left off of our Top 10, the last for this year.
1) WET PAINT (f, Blame–Sky Painter, by Street Cry {Ire})
O/B-Godolphin (Ky). T-Brad Cox. Lifetime Record: MGSW, 6-4-1-0, $689,000. Last Start: Won GIII Fantasy S. at Oaklawn Apr. 1. Kentucky Oaks Points: 170.
Wet Paint didn't run last weekend, but her status as the Oaks favorite was nonetheless solidified. Defining Purpose (Cross Traffic) won the GI Ashland over Punchbowl, Julia Shining and Wonder Wheel. That's the same Defining Purpose who was sixth, beaten five lengths, by Wet Paint in the GIII Honeybee S. at Oaklawn and was third behind Wet Paint in the Martha Washington S. With Faiza (Girvin), an easy winner of the GII Santa Anita Oaks, passing on the Kentucky Oaks, Wet Paint is your obvious favorite for trainer Brad Cox. She swept Oaklawn's series of Kentucky Oaks preps and was a handy winner each time. She has been beaten on the turf and on a synthetic surface, but never on the dirt. As good as Cox is overall, his biggest strength seems to be with developing fillies. If she runs her race, it may be a battle for second.
2) BOTANICAL (f, Medaglia d'Oro–Daisy, by Blame)
O-LNJ Foxwoods & Clearsky Farms. B-Clearsky Farms & Godolphin (Ky). T-Brad Cox. Sales history: $220,000 yrl '21 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: SW, 6-4-1-0, $374,410. Last Start: Won the Bourbonette S. at Turfway Mar. 25. Kentucky Oaks Points: 70.
Another filly from the Brad Cox barn, she's been a terror on the Tapeta track at Turfway Park, where she romped in four straight races. Can she transfer that form to the dirt? Cox has said he will know more after she has had a couple of works at Churchill Downs. She had her first Churchill work on Apr. 7 and breezed four furlongs in :49.20. She has tactical speed and has won two of her last three in gate-to-wire fashion. But she can also sit off the pace, which she did in the Cincinnati Trophy S., where she was third early. If she runs as well on the dirt as she did on the synthetic surface at Turfway she should be right there.
3) SOUTHLAWN (f, Pioneerof the Nile–Mo d'Amour, by Uncle Mo)
O-Robert Masterson. B-WinStar Farm (Ky). T-Norm Casse. Sales history: $290,000 yrl '21 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: GSW, 7-3-0-0, $318,369. Last Start: Won the GII Fair Grounds Oaks at Fair Grounds Mar. 25. Kentucky Oaks Points: 100.
At one point it appeared that one of the storylines for the Oaks could be a father-versus-son showdown between Hall of Famer Mark Casse and his son, Norm. But with Mark Casse's Wonder Wheel having struggled this year, it may be left up to the younger Casse to carry the banner for the family. Not that Norm isn't a very good trainer in his own right. With 29 percent winners this year, he's never been hotter. After serving as his father's assistant, he went out on his own in 2018. Southlawn has won two straight, including the GII Fair Grounds Oaks, and can give Casse the biggest win of his young career.
4) PRETTY MISCHIEVOUS (f, Into Mischief–Pretty City Dancer, by Tapit) 'TDN Rising Star'
O/B-Godolphin (Ky). T-Brendan P. Walsh. Lifetime Record: GSW, 6-4-1-1, $501,310. Last Start: 2nd GII Fair Grounds Oaks at Fair Grounds Mar. 25. Kentucky Oaks Points: 103.
She was no match for Southlawn in the Fair Grounds Oaks, where she finished second, 3 1/4 lengths behind her rival. Not that it was a bad race. This filly has never run worse than third and is as consistent as any horse in the division. She'll show up on May 5. She's also a two-time winner at Churchill. Trainer Brendan Walsh has never had a Kentucky Oaks or GI Kentucky Derby winner and is also winless in the Breeders' Cup, but his stable is getting better and bigger every year and it seems like only a matter of time until he has the breakthrough win.
5) DEFINING PURPOSE (f, Cross Traffic–Defining Hope, by Strong Hope)
O-Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek), Colette VanMatre & Hames Ball. B-Colette VanMatre (Ky). T-Kenny McPeek. Lifetime Record: 7-3-0-1, $543,688. Last Start: Won the GI Ashland S. at Keeneland Apr. 7. Kentucky Oaks Points: 107.
Never count out trainer Kenny McPeek. He's never afraid to throw a longshot into a big race and has won dozens of stakes when few gave him a chance. That was the case with Defining Purpose in the Ashland, where she was 20-1 for a reason. She was coming off a blah performance in the GIII Honeybee S. and, before that, finished third as the even-money favorite in the Martha Washington. She's 0-for-2 against Wet Paint, so it's hard to make a case that she can beat her. But stranger things have happened, especially when it comes to a horse who appears to be on the improve. Note that Brian Hernandez, Jr. rode both Defining Purpose and Pretty Mischievous in their last races.
6) AFFIRMATIVE LADY (f, Arrogate–Stiffed, by Stephen Got Even)
O-AMO Racing USA. B-Alastar Thoroughbred Co., LLC (Ky). T-H. G. Motion. Sales history: $210,000 yrl '21 KEESEP; $400,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: GSW, 6-2-1-2, $270,568. Last Start: Won GII Gulfstream Park Oaks Apr. 1. Kentucky Oaks Points: 110.
From day one, Graham Motion has campaigned this horse like she was something special. After losses in back-to-back maiden races at the start of her career, Motion had her in the GII Demoiselle S., where she lost by just a neck to Julia Shining. It was back in another stakes, the Busanda S., where she finished third. Finally, in her fifth career start, she landed in a maiden at Gulfstream, which she won. The GII Gulfstream Park Oaks was next and, with a two-length win, she earned her way into the Kentucky Oaks field. The Gulfstream race didn't come up particularly strong, so she'll have to prove herself against tougher company at Churchill.
7) GAMBLING GIRL (f, Dialed In–Tulipmania, by Empire Maker)
O-Repole Stable. B-Gallagher's Stud (NY). T-Todd Pletcher. Sales History: $200,000 yrl '21 FTNAUG. Lifetime Record: SW & GSP, 9-2-2-2, $257,410. Last Start: 2nd GIII Gazelle S. at Aqueduct Apr. 8. Kentucky Oaks Points: 61.
While Mike Repole's main focus Derby week will come with Forte (Violence), the likely favorite in the first leg of the Triple Crown, it looks like he's got an outside shot of pulling off the Oaks-Derby double with Forte and Gambling Girl. His trainer, Todd Pletcher, has a chance to become only the fourth trainer to pull off the Oaks-Derby double and the first since Ben Jones, who won the 1952 Oaks with Real Delight and Derby with Hill Gail. Jones also did it in 1949. To do so, Gambling Girl will need to run the race of her life. She flourished much of last year against New York-breds, but has been facing open company since appearing in the Dec. 3 Demoiselle. After two more losses in open company stakes, she was second last weekend in the GIII Gazelle S. at Aqueduct. That gave her enough points to make the Oaks, but she still needs to prove she can win an open company stakes, where she's 0-for-4 so far.
8) PROMISEHER AMERICA (f, American Pharoah–Promisedyouheaven, by Unbridled's Song)
O-Hoffman Thoroughbreds & Tom F. McCrocklin. B-Robert & Lawana Low (Ky). T-Raymond Handal. Sales History: $75,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: GSW, 4-2-1-0, $198,138. Last Start: Won GIII Gazelle S. at Aqueduct Apr. 8. Kentucky Oaks Points: 100.
She cost just $75,000 at the Ocala Breeders' Sale Spring sale and was beaten 20 1/2 lengths in her debut in December at Aqueduct. Yet, somehow here she is, an Oaks starter after scoring a massive upset in the Gazelle at 26-1. Underrated trainer Ray Handal must have figured something out because she has improved in every race after her poor showing in her debut and became a stakes winner last Saturday at Aqueduct. She's also gotten better as the races have gotten longer. That said, she beat a weak field in the Gazelle and if she is going to win the Oaks she's going to have to do it as a 30-1 shot.
9) AND TELL ME NO LIES (f, Arrogate–Be Fair, by Exchange Rate)
O-Peter Redekop B. C. Ltd. B-Lara Run LLC (Ky). T-Peter Miller. Sales History: $70,000 yrl '21 KEEJAN; $230,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: GISW, 7-3-2-0, $472,800. Last Start: 2nd GII Santa Anita Oaks at Santa Anita Apr. 8. Kentucky Oaks Points: 70.
No better than the second best 3-year-old filly racing on the West Coast as she has finished second behind Faiza in both of her 3-year-old starts. In the Santa Anita Oaks, it wasn't even close as Faiza whipped her by 6 1/2 lengths. These 3-year-old fillies are not a particularly fast bunch and this one, despite her accomplishments, might be the slowest of the group. Her 78 in the Santa Anita Oaks was a career-best Beyer figure and she's only slightly faster than she was last year when she was running in the low to mid-seventies.
10) SHIDABHUTI (f, Practical Joke–A. P. Candy, by Candy Ride {Arg})
O-Peter Brant. B-Gabriel Duignan & Gerry Dilger (Ky). T-Chad Brown. Sales history: $77,000 wnlg '20 KEENOV; $310,000 yrl '21 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: SW & GSP, 4-3-0-1, $219,600. Last Start: 3rd in GIII Gazelle S. at Aqueduct Apr. 8. Kentucky Oaks Points: 80.
Had a chance to force her way up the list when taking on five others in the Gazelle. She came in undefeated for trainer Chad Brown, but had been racing in largely soft spots. Her Gazelle showing was ok, but just ok. She was third, beaten two lengths. Will have to do much better in the Oaks to be a contender. Wouldn't be the first time Brown got the very most out of a horse he trains, but he really has his work cut out for him with this filly.
The post The Kentucky Oaks Top 10: Lack of Points Have Big Names on Outside Looking In appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
