A horse at Delaware Park has been isolated in a barn well removed from the main stable area after testing positive for Streptococcus equi, or strangles. In response, all of the racing organizations in the Mid-Atlantic have placed shipping and racing restrictions on the Stanton, Del., track. The New York Racing Association, Maryland Jockey Club, Monmouth Park, Parx Racing, Charles Town, and Penn National are all refusing entries from horses stabled at Delaware Park and have informed horsemen that any horse shipping to Delaware Park will not be allowed to return. Monmouth Park has put an expiration date of July 10 on its restrictions, while the other tracks’ rules are open-ended. "That's just a target date," said John Heims, Monmouth's director of racing. The restrictions come at an inopportune time for Delaware Park, which has it two biggest days of the year planned for July 6 and July 13. Five stakes are scheduled for July 6, including the Grade 3, $300,000 Delaware Oaks, Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial, and Grade 3 Kent Stakes. On July 13, the Grade 2, $750,000 Delaware Handicap tops a five-stakes card. The other four stakes are part of the MATCH Series. John Mooney, the executive director of racing at Delaware Park, said he believes the tracks “jumped the gun” with their restrictions and takes issue with a group text sent out to horsemen by one of the tracks that said Delaware Park was under a quarantine. “There is no quarantine at Delaware Park,” Mooney said. “We have not issued a quarantine, and the Department of Agriculture has not issued a quarantine. Horses are allowed to ship in and race and then go back to their tracks, if allowed. If they aren’t, they are welcome to stay here. “I have to think when the other states receive notice from our Department of Agriculture that this horse has been cleared, they will rescind their restrictions on us.” Mooney added that stakes races at Delaware would go on as scheduled. The horse who tested positive is trained by Gerard Galligan. The horse’s name has not been released. He was housed in a lightly populated barn along with “around a dozen other horses,” according to Mooney. His barnmates have been isolated, and their temperatures are being closely monitored by veterinarians, Mooney said. None of them has shown any sign of illness. They are being allowed to exercise by themselves on the training track after normal training hours. Mooney said Galligan’s horse was examined by a veterinarian for a stiff neck on June 21. When the vet couldn’t find anything wrong, he sent him to a clinic, where he spent three or four days. He was “diagnosed in perfect health” at the clinic and sent back to Delaware Park. Upon his return, a culture was taken, which identified him as a carrier of the strangles bacteria, according to Mooney, even though he had no temperature or symptoms. “The horse is being monitored for signs of illness, discharge or temperature but has not shown any,” Mooney said. “When he tests negative, he will be cleared and released into the horse population.” On Sunday, Mooney did not know when the horse would be retested. Dionne Benson, the chief veterinary officer of The Stronach Group, which owns the Maryland Jockey Club, said “it is best to err on the side of caution.” “Strangles is pretty contagious and can be fatal among young horses,” Benson said. “Our job is to protect the horse population in the Mid-Atlantic by not exposing it to harm. There can be a three- to 14-day period between when a horse tests positive for strangles and the onset of symptoms.” Benson said she was still trying to ascertain exactly when Galligan’s horse tested positive for the bacteria, but it would be at least 14 days from that point before any restrictions would be lifted. Strangles is an upper-respiratory infection that is often accompanied by an elevated temperature and nasal discharge. The bacteria typically infect the upper airway and lymph nodes of a horse’s head and neck.