PETER SCUDAMORE I wouldn't bet on racing restarting next week скачать в хорошем качестве

PETER SCUDAMORE I wouldn't bet on racing restarting next week

PETER SCUDAMORE: I wouldn't bet on racing restarting next week. I always thought it was a long shot that racing would start again next Wednesday and, despite the BHA insisting that is still possible, it is surely even less likely now the number of Donald McCain's horses with equine flu has increased to six. That's three additional positives and, most significantly, one of them is Raise A Spark which ran at Ayr on Wednesday. He showed no symptoms on the day but it is highly likely that he was in the incubation period for the virus. With the virus so contagious, that is worrying news for all the stables that had runners at the Scottish track, including the stable I run with my partner, trainer Lucinda Russell. All our Ayr runners are in an isolation yard and being looked after by separate staff but, like all trainers who had runners at Ayr, the next 48 hours will be a nervous time for us. The BHA took prompt action and hope that by locking down stables that could have been contaminated, they will stop the infection spreading. But with a highly-contagious condition such as equine flu, the situation can quickly get out of hand. It is also hard to believe that sufficient tests can be carried out for the BHA to make the next call by Monday. So many horses need to be tested that there are not enough swabs to go around. We have 70 horses, all of which look healthy and illness-free to my eyes, but our vets had only 50 swabs on Friday. We had hoped to test the whole stable but now some of the horses must wait. The reporting of a 'suspicious' and unrelated case surrounding a horse from a stable which had runners at Newcastle last Monday and Wolverhampton on Tuesday has also increased the number of yards in quarantine to 174. That means more tests and more swabs are needed. Right now, you wouldn't bet much money on a resumption of racing by midweek.