Cheltenham Festival has been placed under threat after an outbreak of equine flu saw the entirety of Thursday’s horse racing in Britain cancelled.

Racing at all four British meetings – Doncaster, Ffos Las, Huntingdon and Chelmford – were called off late on Wednesday evening after it was confirmed three horses had tested positive for EI. 

How badly racing will be disrupted by the outbreak of Equine Influenza will not be known until the results of tests from the infected stable are known. The results are unlikely to be available until this evening.

Cheltenham Festival has been placed under serious threat after an outbreak of equine flu

All racing across Britain on Thursday has been called off due to an equine influenza outbreak

That yard, believed to be of Cheshire trainer Donald McCain, had runners at both Ayr and Ludlow on Wednesday.

Should the results of today’s test show the EI infection has spread beyond the initial three horses, the ramifications start getting serious for the sport as there is a risk of cross-contamination at all stables that had runners at Ayr and Ludlow, which included all major jumps stables in Britain.

Immediate meetings, including Saturday’s valuable Newbury card which includes significant Cheltenham Festival Trials, are clearly under threat but any longer term problem and subsequent close-down could endanger the Cheltenham Festival, which starts on March 12.

talkSPORT’s racing correspondent Lee McKenzie admitted on Thursday morning that a cancellation of the festival is a very real possibility.

Speaking on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast, he said: ‘Luckily the Cheltenham Festival is still five weeks away, so there is a bit of time to get something into the place and, who knows, it may blow over rather quickly.

‘But at the moment you have to say that there is a possibility that could be the case.

‘I remember back in 2001 when there was an incident of foot and mouth and the horse racing with severely affected by that and that did indeed end up with the postponement of the Cheltenham Festival. This is something different, though.

‘Horses in one yard were discovered to have equine flu, they are vaccinated against this but the real problem is that they ran in races yesterday in two meetings – Ayr and Ludlow – and that means it could have spread to other horses and therefore into other yards, and just think how rapidly that could go through the horse population.

‘It does mean that all the horses in their stable and also any horse that was at either of those two racecourses yesterday who have gone back to their own stables, you’re already starting to see a potentially rapid escalating problem.’

Racing on Thursday was due to take place at Huntingdon, Doncaster, Ffos Las and Chelmsford

The unanimous decision was made to stop the flu outbreak spreading to other race horses

A BHA statement on Thursday morning said: ‘Racing was shut down today as a precautionary measure to restrict the movement of thoroughbred race horses and prevent any further spread of the virus. This is a standard contingency in the event of an infectious disease affecting our horses.

‘It was essential that racing be stood down today and controls on movements of horses be put in place in order to attempt to control the spread of the disease, and the decision was taken swiftly last night that this course of action should be taken, once the extent of the issue was known. The BHA consulted with its veterinary committee before making this decision.

‘We will endeavour to issue regular information but we are still in the early stages of assessing the scale and severity of the outbreak. We are working quickly to identify the extent of the infection and will have more information when further test results are returned today. The results from those tests will not be known until this evening. Following these results being known a call will be convened to discuss the implications and a decision will then be made as to the impact on racing in the coming days.

‘We are aware that people want to know the situation as regards racing tomorrow and this weekend and we will seek to provide more clarity as soon as we are able. It is likely that any definitive decisions on whether racing can take place tomorrow will be taken later this evening.

‘We are contacting trainers of all yards which might conceivably have had contact with horses from the affected yard in order to advise them on biosecurity measures and to ask them not to move horses. We are also issuing guidance to the wider population of trainers.

‘We are working closely with the National Trainers Federation to share this information and ensure that trainers are kept as informed as possible. Trainers are being sent a contact number should they have further questions, and they are advised to contact their vets with any further concerns.

‘Anyone visiting a racing yard should exercise appropriate caution and check with a trainer before visiting, and trainers are advised to limit where possible the movement of people to and from their yard. There is a Code of Practice for dealing with infectious diseases on the website of the National Trainers Federation.’

Leading Irish trainer Gordon Elliott had five runners at Ayr yesterday but said he had received notification of the problem before they returned to his stable and they had been placed in an isolation yard.