EHV-1 quarantine Saratoga | Horse Racing Free Tips

Abreu Catches Fire Post-Quarantine at Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY–While the July portion of the Saratoga season was frustrating, a bunch of mostly wasted racing days for trainer Jorge Abreu, August has been far more rewarding.

With the bulk of his stable stuck in a quarantine after one of his unraced 2-year-old fillies tested positive for equine herpesvirus, Abreu had one win and two seconds from eight starts between July 16 and July 31. Since the quarantine was lifted, Abreu, 47, has four wins and three seconds and from 13 starters.

“All the horses were ready to go,” Abreu said. “I was just waiting for some races.”

Three of those victories came Friday, Aug. 13. In the capper of a productive three days, his fourth trip to the winner's circle was Sunday when Lawrence Goichman's Star Devine (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) won the $120,000 Galway S. on the turf.

Abreu smiled and nodded at the suggestion that the Friday triple made his meet.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “A lot of people only want to win one race here, nevermind three in a day.”

Star Devine, ridden for the first time by Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez drew the outside post in the field of 10 in her return to sprinting after finishing third in a 1 1/16-mile allowance. She was never too far back early in the 5 1/2-furlong Galway and Velazquez moved her into a challenging position on the turn. Some seven wide in the stretch, closer to the outer rail than the inside, she prevailed by a head at 7-1.

“I thought she was going to come from a little bit off the pace, but she broke so sharply and Johnny just took advantage of it,” Abreu said. “I knew she was going to run well. She was just looking for a little cut back. She's better going short than going long.”

Star Devine is likely to run next in the 6 1/2-furlong $500,000 Music City Sept. 12 at Kentucky Downs.

Abreu said the filly, whose illness led to the quarantine at Barn 86, stopping 26 of his 40 horses and all of Kenny McPeek's stable from running, has recovered and is on a farm in New York. She will eventually be sent to a farm in Florida.

“They were going to send her back,” he said. “And I said, 'I don't want her back until next year.'”

Price Talk (Kitten's Joy) started Abreu's big Friday–which yielded $106,700 in first-place money–with a victory by a neck in the second race, paying $5.80 as the favorite. In the fourth, Supply and Demand (Exaggerator) won by a nose and paid $13. Sue Ellen Mishkin (Mohaymen), a Gold Square LLC homebred, won the sixth by 7 1/4 lengths, paying $8.90.

Abreu said he was not surprised with Sue Ellen Mishkin's performance in the maiden special weight for New York-bred 2-year-olds.

“I liked that filly so much I was going to run her first time out in a stake,” he said. “I nominated her for a stake, but then we got in the quarantine and we couldn't run.”

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McPeek Contests Decision to Deny His Entries

When his barn at Saratoga was placed under quarantine due to an outbreak of Equine Herpesvirus, trainer Ken McPeek assumed his horses would be allowed to race starting Aug.1, the day the quarantine was due to be lifted. Instead, none of his entries for the Aug. 1, 4 and 5 cards were accepted because, McPeek was told, the horses were still under quarantine at the time entries were taken.

While it is too late to get his horses entered into the upcoming cards in question, McPeek, through his attorney Drew Mollica, has appealed and demanded a hearing over the matter, which Mollica charges, has caused his client “irreparable harm caused by the arbitrary and capricious denial of the ability to enter eligible horses trained by McPeek in races at Saratoga Racecourse …”

“Understanding that it is too late for these horses to run in these races, there are two very good reasons for doing what we are doing,” Mollica said. “First, McPeek feels aggrieved by the lack of respect shown for him and his owners and for fellow horsemen confronted with this situation. His position is that this just can't be. Secondly, we seek equitable relief, whatever that may be. We are seeking some relief. McPeek and his owners followed every protocol, did everything they were asked. They were committed to racing, trained for these races and had no opportunity to run. At some point, McPeek would like someone to be held accountable.”

Mollica listed seven horses McPeek had intended to run over the three days in question. He has not started a horse in Saratoga since July 15, the opening day of the meet.

Mollica said that McPeek and his owners were put on public notice by the commission that the horses affected by the quarantine would be released from quarantine and permitted to race starting Sunday, Aug. 1. Instead, the entries were denied. That led to Mollica reaching out to the stewards on July 30, some 3 ½ hours before the Aug. 3 card was drawn, in hopes that a hearing could be held and the McPeek horses could begin running as soon Aug. 4. He said he sent emails and placed phone calls to Gaming Commission steward Braulio Baeza Jr. and to the commission itself, none of which were returned.

“All New York horsemen need to know what the rules are,” Mollica said. “As I wrote in my letter, when the Gaming Commission created this protocol they were well aware that entries for August 1 and beyond took place prior to August 1. It's understood that if you are going to enter the population August 1, entries for August and beyond took place prior to August 1. To come up with an explanation that McPeek's horses were ineligible to run is completely illogical.”

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Swiss Skydiver to Target Whitney

Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) is headed for the GI Whitney S., trainer Kenny McPeek said Wednesday.

McPeek said that the EHV-1 quarantine that has affected his barn at Saratoga prompted him to reschedule his plans for Peter Callaghan's 4-year-old filly, the winner of the 2020 Preakness against colts. She was originally scheduled to run in the GIII $200,000 Shuvee this Sunday, but the quarantine in his barn has prevented him from entering any horses at Saratoga.

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) and the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) have placed Barn 86 at Saratoga Race Course under a precautionary quarantine until further notice due to a positive case of Equine Herpesvirus-1 in that barn.

The unnamed, unraced filly, who is trained by Jorge Abreu, was sent to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital on Sunday, July 11 after developing a fever. She was subsequently tested for a number of potential ailments, and a positive test for EHV-1 was returned on Thursday afternoon. The filly began treatment immediately, and is improving under the care of Dr. Luis Castro, DVM.

The New York Racing Association has announced that during the length of the 21-day quarantine, retroactive to July 11, no horses can train with the generation population or enter races. The quarantine is scheduled to run through August 1, should no additional horses test positive, which is standard protocol in New York.

“There might be a silver lining to this after all,” said McPeek, indicating that the $1 million Whitney at nine furlongs is a good fit for her, and that she is training very well. She won the 2020 Alabama at Saratoga.

This story will be updated.

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