Calder Casino & Race Course Sept. 12 placed racing and training restrictions on horses in one of its barns and in an adjacent training center while those horses are being tested for a tick-borne blood disease that is non-contagious.
About 160 horses are under restrictions, which officials at the Miami Gardens, Fla., track expect will last for two to four weeks. The adjacent Racetrack Training Center, which is not owned by Calder, has about 120 of those horses.
None of those horses or any other horses at Calder have yet to be diagnosed with the disease, known as equine piroplasmosis, according to track spokeswoman Michele Blanco.
Within several days the Florida Department of Agriculture will test the horses for disease. It will not test any other horses at Calder.
The horses under restrictions are in barns in which one or more horses may have been exposed to the tick-borne disease at tracks outside Florida. Under the restrictions, horses stabled at the one Calder barn and at Racetrack Training Center will not be able to race for at least two weeks at Calder.
Also during the period, horses in the Calder barn will not be able to leave Calder or train during regular training hours. Horses at the training center will not be able to leave that premises, or train at Calder.
The Racetrack Training Center’s track is just under a half-mile in circumference, said Barry Seinfeld, the center’s president.
Other horses will be permitted to ship in and out of Calder during the two-to-four week period.
Barn 76 has 42 horses, most trained by Giuseppe Iadisernia. Calder has approximately 1,800 horses in its stable area.
With more than 1,750 horses still able to race, Blanco said Calder expects the restrictions will have a minimal impact on the track’s racing cards.
Calder has live racing Thursdays through Sundays at its Calder meet, which runs through Oct. 17. It will add Mondays to its schedule during the Tropical meet, which will run from Oct. 21 through Jan. 3, 2011.