covid-19 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Hot Summer And COVID-19 Could Lead To Rise In Cases Of Lyme Disease And EEE

This spring, COVID-19 caused the shutdown of many businesses and organizations, leaving people with much more free time than usual. With not many options to occupy themselves while still remaining social distant, people began spending more time outside.

Spring is also the time of year when the tick-borne diseases tend appear. There may be a surge in cases of diseases spread by ticks as people spend more time outside in warmer weather. Dr. Sam Telford, a professor of Infectious Disease and Global Health at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in Massachusetts, has been collecting ticks from a variety of areas to test them for infectious diseases like Lyme disease, which affects both horses and humans.

The majority of tick-borne disease cases occur between June and August; dry weather can shorten the lifespan of ticks. Warm summer weather can lead to a surge in mosquito populations, which carry their own set of diseases, including Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE). EEE comes in three-year cycles, says Telford.

Many diseases carried by ticks and mosquitoes affect both humans and horses, as well as other companion animals. It's imperative that animals and humans be as protected as possible, which would include limiting standing water, checking for ticks daily, administering appropriate vaccines and applying insect repellents.

Stall-Side Test For Equine Disease May Assist With COVID-19 Detection

Scientists have discovered a way to use a cell phone's camera to detect respiratory diseases like equine influenza in horses; that same technology could help identify COVID-19 in humans. These easily spread diseases can cause large death tolls, as well as economic loss and disruption of daily life.

One complication to slowing the spread of diseases like these are the is the lack of widely available testing that can offer speedy and accurate results, reports The Horse. This means that communities are unable to make informed recommendations regarding quarantines that can help control the spread of the disease.

Early diagnosis of disease, whether in horses or humans, is key to controlling the spread of disease, notes Dr. Brian Cunningham, an electrical and computer engineering professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. If obtaining results takes days, whether because of a backlog of samples or lab closures because of holidays, the virus has already spread before a positive result is even given. Adding to the potential delay in diagnosis and implementation of control strategies is that some affected patients may have more than one disease.

Cunningham has developed a testing technique for a variety of equine respiratory pathogens, including Streptococcus equi, EHV-1 and EHV-4, and equine influenza. The test uses nasal swabs to detect viral RNA, which is converted to DNA and then amplified in compartments on a silicon chip. Each compartment on the chip can be used to test for a different virus. The chemical reaction it produces replicates billions of copies of the original viral nucleic acid sequence. Fluorescent markers bind to the DNA during amplification, which can be seen on smartphone cameras as green light.

The entire test takes about 30 minutes and can be done stall side, eliminating the need to send samples to a lab and wait, possibly days, for results. With modification, the test could also be used to detect contagious human respiratory viruses like COVID-19.

Hastings Kicks Off Abbreviated Summer Meet On Monday

Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver, British Columbia, starts its 2020 live meet with an abbreviated racing schedule consisting of 25 race days, beginning Monday, July 6.

The race meet will be conducted with all areas of the facility closed to the public, and all racing participants will be adhering to strict health and safety protocol, as part of the ongoing effort to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hastings' live races will be available for viewing and wagering through the industry's simulcast network as well as at hpibet.com.

“Recognizing the hundreds of horse owners, trainers, grooms, jockeys and other support personnel who depend on racing for their livelihood, this abbreviated meet is critical to the ongoing sustainability of the industry,” said David Milburn, President of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association of BC, the organization that represents thoroughbred racing participants in the province.

The 2020 live racing season at Hastings was scheduled to begin on April 26 and run through October 18 with 51 race days in total but was suspended due to COVID-19.

The schedule includes Monday and Tuesday afternoons in July, August and September with start times at 1:15 p.m. PT, as well as one Wednesday afternoon in August and another in September. The lone Saturday date at Hastings will be September 5 which is also the date of the 146th running of this year's Kentucky Derby.

“The BC racing industry, like so many other sectors, has been extremely challenged by the impact from COVID-19. Although we will greatly miss our on-track guests, we want to thank everyone that has worked so hard to prepare for the upcoming race meet,” stated Hastings general manager Michael Zerebeski.

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Finnick The Fierce, Man In The Can Breeze In Advance Of Blue Grass

Arnaldo Monge and trainer Rey Hernandez's Finnick the Fierce and JRita Young Thoroughbreds' Man in the Can, two horses expected to make their next starts in the July 11, $600,000 Toyota Blue Grass (G2) during Keeneland's unprecedented Summer Meet, each turned in bullet works on the fast track at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday morning.

According to Keeneland clockers, Finnick the Fierce worked a half-mile in :46.20, the fastest of 90 works at the distance, and Man in the Can covered five furlongs in :59.60. His time was the fastest of 18 works at the distance.

Finnick the Fierce, a gelding by Dialed In, was third in the second division of the May 2 Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn Park and at Fair Grounds was fourth in the Jan. 18 Lecomte (G3) and seventh in the Feb. 15 Risen Star Presented by Lamarque Ford (G2). He is coming off a third-place finish behind another Toyota Blue Grass hopeful, Art Collector, in a June 13 allowance race at Churchill Downs.

A colt by Can the Man, Man in the Can has won his past three races: Rainbow Stakes on April 17 and Arkansas Breeders' Championship on May 1, both at Oaklawn, and an allowance race at Churchill on June 12. The latter win was by 1½ length over eventual Ohio Derby (G3) winner Dean Martini.

Ron Moquett was pleased with the work turned in by Man in the Can, who will be his first starter in Keeneland's most famous race.

“He handled the track really well,” Moquett said about the Arkansas-bred. “I was really glad to see that. It should set him up well for the race.”

Asked about the COVID-19 pandemic that is resulting in the Toyota Blue Grass being run in July during the unique Summer Meet, Moquett said, “We're living in uncertain times. With everything going on, it's been a really good thing to know we can continue to do what we need to do, and that's to take care of these horses.”

Moquett said Grade 1 winner Whitmore, who has earned more than $3 million, is scheduled to turn in a second work at Keeneland on Sunday. He said the 7-year-old gelding by Pleasantly Perfect, who races for Robert V. LaPenta, Southern Springs Stables and Head of Plains Partners, is being pointed at the Oct. 2 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G2) on opening day of Keeneland's Fall Meet with the Nov. 7 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Keeneland the ultimate goal.

Among the other potential Summer Meet stakes horses that worked Saturday are:

July 10 stakes

Maker's Mark Mile (G1) – M and J Thoroughbreds and Riverside Bloodstock's Emmaus (IRE) (4 furlongs on turf in :50.40) for trainer Conor Murphy; Calumet Farm's Everfast (4 furlongs on turf in :50.20) for trainer Jack Sisterson.

July 11 stakes

Central Bank Ashland (G1) – Juddmonte Farm's Bonny South (5 furlongs on dirt in 1:00.40) for trainer Brad Cox.

Shakertown (G2) – Owner and trainer Wesley Ward's Bound for Nowhere (5 furlongs on turf in 1:05); Amy Dunne, Brenda Miley, Westrock Stables and Jean Wilkinson's Leinster (4 furlongs on turf in :50.2) for trainer Rusty Arnold; Inchy Bridge Stables' Sabador (FR) (4 furlongs on turf in :51.00) for trainer Conor Murphy; Jim and Susan Hill's Totally Boss (4 furlongs on dirt in :48.20) for Arnold.

Appalachian (G2) Presented by Japan Racing Association – Michael and Reiko Baum's Ivyetsu (4 furlongs on dirt in :49.00) for trainer Rusty Arnold; Manganero Bloodstock'sMariafoot (GB) (4 furlongs on dirt in :49.20) for trainer Cherie DeVaux; Marc Detampel, TSF Thoroughbred Racing and Rebecca Hillen's Outburst (GB) (4 furlongs on turf in :51.00) for trainer Eddie Kenneally; Merriebelle Stable's Walk In Marrakesh (IRE) (4 furlongs on turf in :49.00) for trainer Ignacio Correas IV.

July 12 stakes

TVG Elkhorn (G2) – Silverton Hill's Hellorhighwater (5 furlongs on turf in 1:05) for trainer Darrin Miller; Bloom Racing Stable's Henley's Joy (5 furlongs on turf in 1:01.80) for trainer Steve Asmussen.

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