Hawthorne Backstretch Update, Friday, December 7 – Noon

                First off, my apologies for not putting out an earlier update as I have

been away attending to some personal issues.

                As we stated in our prior update, cases of EHV-1 have become more

sporadic as the virus appears to be running its course.  We did have a death last

weekend in Barn E which was a two-year-old horse that had tested positive. 

There have been no other cases arise within Barn E since the death of that horse

but we did require a one week period of training during later hours in order to

monitor that barn.  That weekends today as those horses will return to normal

training hours on Saturday.

 The death did restart the clock for lifting the quarantine.  If we do not  have

 any further neurologic cases appear, we are looking in the neighborhood of the end

of the meet for a possible lifting of the quarantine.

                There have been six more horses in quarantine that have tested negative

and have returned to their barn within the last week.  That currently leaves us with six

horses between K2 East and West of which we are testing those next week with the

hopes of more horses testing negative within that location and returning to their

original barns. 

               In Barn 8, we have 4 horses that are being monitored. Three of the horses are

results of positive tests but none of those three are symptomatic.  The fourth horse

has been recovering from EHV-1 but is foundering and is being monitored for that. 

One horse that had tested positive and was stabled within Barn 8 was euthanized. 

This was a horse that had tested positive prior to the passing of the horse within

Barn E and thus does not restart the clock on the quarantine.

                There are restrictions that have been put in place by the Illinois Department

of Agriculture for those looking to relocate to quarantine within Illinois. Those restrictions

are available at the state vet’s office in Barn 8.

                A couple of notes, as always we ask horsemen to use proper techniques

in regards to cleanliness and hygiene.  Additionally, while there are very few horses

shipping in, we ask that those wishing to ship in are shipping in the race.  We

discourage horsemen from shipping two-year-olds in to train as younger horses

can be more susceptible to this virus.

                This has been tough on everyone but again, I thank you for your support

and assistance through this hard time.  We feel this virus is running its course and

we ask horsemen to continue to closely monitor their horses and consult with their

vet, the state vet or association vet if they have any questions or concerns.

Jim Miller – Assistant General Manager, Hawthorne Race Course