![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Plumpton-Races.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Sunday fixture at Plumpton in Sussex was abandoned after a non-thoroughbred horse at a nearby livery yard was confirmed to have contracted equine flu and EHV-4<\/p>\n
A race meeting at Plumpton has been called off(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Sunday’s jumps meeting at Plumpton was called off on Thursday due to an outbreak of a highly contagious disease.<\/p>\n
The popular Sussex racecourse, which was due to host a seven-race card, had been keeping an eye on developments after learning earlier in the week of a confirmed case of equine influenza and EHV-4 in an unvaccinated non-thoroughbred horse based on a livery yard immediately adjacent to the racecourse.<\/p>\n
The track announced that after consultation with the BHA \u201cthe unfortunate decision has been made to abandon Sunday\u2019s raceday”. \u201cThroughout the process we have remained in regular communication with the yard concerned, our veterinary team, the British Horseracing Authority, and independent infectious disease experts to monitor the situation and assess level of risk,\u201d a statement said.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Kyren Wilson on Chester “tension” as his horse wins amid Ladies Day chaos at track<\/a>READ MORE: Inspection halts racing at Chester as track labelled ‘a bit of an ice rink’ after Michael Owen 1-2<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe infected horse, which remains isolated at the livery yard, has undergone further testing and is still actively shedding the virus. Given the very close proximity of the livery yard to the racecourse, the decision has been taken with the unanimous support of the BHA\u2019s independent veterinary group.<\/p>\n \u201cThe health and wellbeing of horses and participants remains our absolute priority and it is believed this is the most responsible course of action at this time in order to minimise any risk to the wider thoroughbred racing population.\u201d<\/p>\n Plumpton said ticketholders would receive an automatic refund, which would be processed as quickly as possible. Discussions would continue with the BHA to establish whether the fixture could be rearranged.<\/p>\n According to the BHA equine influenza is a highly contagious respiratory disease which can be airborne over reasonable distances and transmitted indirectly to horses, including via people.<\/p>\n The regulator said no other horses were showing signs of infection but the cancellation was decided as \u201ca precautionary measure given the very close proximity of the livery yard to the racecourse and particularly the stable area.\u201d<\/p>\n James Given, BHA director of Equine Regulation, Safety and Welfare(Image: PA)<\/p>\n It said: \u201cThis decision has been taken with the unanimous support of the BHA\u2019s independent veterinary group, with a view to restricting the risk of the spread of the disease to the thoroughbred racing herd.\u201d<\/p>\n BHA director of Equine Regulation, Safety and Welfare, James Given, said: \u201c Equine flu is highly contagious and can spread rapidly among horses, including through the air and over a widespread distance, which is why it is essential we take appropriate steps to minimise any risk of onward transmission.<\/p>\n \u201cWe appreciate that this news will be disappointing for the racecourse, participants and racegoers, but with a confirmed case in the immediate vicinity and the horse actively shedding the virus, this is a sensible precautionary step to protect individual horses and the wider thoroughbred herd from potential exposure.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have also seen a significant recent rise in the number of equine flu outbreaks across the country, in the non-thoroughbred herd. I urge trainers and teams to remain vigilant in their own biosecurity measures and being alert to the signs of infection.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Sunday fixture at Plumpton in Sussex was abandoned after a non-thoroughbred horse at a nearby livery yard…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":944465,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[933,37140,43583,288,21031,1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-944464","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-british-horseracing-authority","10":"tag-flu","11":"tag-horse-racing","12":"tag-horses","13":"tag-racing","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116535012908345761","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/944465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_Dante-Festival-Day-Three-York-Racecourse.jpg\")
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