As surrounding states took steps to protect their racetracks from Maryland horses that could be carriers of the equine herpesvirus, Maryland Jockey Club racing secretary Georganne Hale was looking for positives anywhere she could find them.

“This thing has everyone scared,” Hale said Jan. 10 after a morning meeting at which state officials confirmed preliminary results of blood tests on News Reporter, the 5-year-old gelding who was euthanatized Jan. 2 at Pimlico Race Course, showed he was infected with the virus. “But it looks like we have it confined, that we’ve jumped on it in time. And, not to be selfish, but if you’re looking for a silver lining, our horses not being able to ship out of town will help me” put together larger fields at Laurel Park.

Fear of a spread of the virus led other states to take action in the tightly knit Mid-Atlantic region, where horses regularly cross state lines to race.

Philadelphia Park in Pennsylvania will not accept entries from Pimlico-based horses, but it will allow its horse population to race at Laurel as long as those horses are stabled in private barns and not the usual receiving barn, where they might come in contact with Pimlico-based horses