Barns at Saratoga, Belmont are out of strangles quarantine

Precautionary quarantines of barns 60 and 63 at Saratoga were lifted by the New York State Department of Agriculture on Saturday, the New York Racing Association said Saturday.

The announcement came a little more than an hour after NYRA said the 14-day quarantine of barn 28 at Belmont Park also had been lifted by the NYSDA.

As a result, all horses stabled in the affected barns were permitted to be entered in races right away and train with the general horse population beginning Sunday.

Barns 60 and 63, which contains horses under the care of trainer George Weaver, were placed under a precautionary quarantine on Saturday, June 21, when the Weaver-trained 2-year-old filly Tenacious Child in barn 66 was tested for a number of potential ailments. Tenacious Child was found to have strangles, and the horses in barn 66 were placed under quarantine at the direction of the NYSDA on Wednesday.

In addition, horses previously quarantined in barn 66 at Saratoga will be relocated to an alternate location to complete the mandatory quarantine under NYSDA oversight. Barn 66 will then be cleaned and disinfected under NYSDA protocols.

One additional 2-year-old colt, Ice House, who is trained by Weaver and is located in Saratoga, returned a positive test for strangles on Friday and will be required to quarantine at an alternate location consistent with the horses located in barn 66.

Belmont barn 28 was placed under quarantine June 14 following the identification of a case of strangles within that barn. Mo Curls, a 2-year-old gelding trained by Weaver, was referred for treatment on June 13 and returned a positive test for strangles on June 14.