by Fran Jurga | 31 December 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com
The Times-Picayune of New Orleans is reporting this afternoon that trainer Steve Asmussen has been affected by a diagnosis of equine herpes virus at his barn of Thoroughbred racehorses stabled at the Evangeline Training Center outside Lafayette, Louisiana. A quarantine of the barn was declared today and horses will not be allowed to leave.
According to the newspaper report, a horse in Asmussen’s barn tested positive for equine herpes virus, which is highly contagious.
Asmussen, of course, is the trainer of such highly-visible racehorses as horse-of-the-year contender Rachel Alexandra and comeback-hopeful Friesan Fire, among hundreds of others. Unless Asmussen has moved Rachel Alexandra without the press knowing about it, which is doubtful, she should be safely celebrating New Year’s Eve tonight at his barn at the Fair Grounds racetrack in New Orleans and would not be affected by the quarantine, other than for routine biosecurity worries for staff that go back and forth between the sets of Asmussen trainees.
Two barns at the Fair Grounds were quarantined last winter for equine herpes.
Click here to read the complete article in the Times-Picayune. More information will be forthcoming.
Follow @FranJurga on Twitter for more news and media for equestrians!