The Emirates Racing Authority (ERA) cancelled the Al Ain race meeting scheduled to take place on Friday.
The background to this decision was that on the evening of February 13 the ERA became aware of the existence of 13 recent cases tested positive to the strangles disease. With such a number of infected cases identified in the show jumping community and the Al Ain Equestrian Shooting and Golf Club having just hosted a show jumping event, cancellation of this race date was deemed to be the appropriate action to eliminate any chance of this contagious disease spreading to the flat racing industry, a release said.
The ERA which is responsible for the welfare and integrity of racing in the UAE will continue to monitor closely and coordinate investigations to quarantine and mitigate any risk of this disease spreading.