Trainer Charles Frock said Monday night, Jan. 9, his horse News Reporter, a 5-year-old Thoroughbred gelding that was euthanatized Jan. 2 at Pimlico Race Course, had equine herpesvirus.

“A state (Maryland Department of Agriculture) official said my horse had a very high A and B bloodcount of 2,500 that indicated he definitely had the herpes virus,” said Frock, 62, from his Westminster, Md., farm. “What I want to know is where it came from and how it is picked up.”

News Reporter had been a perfectly normal horse through training Sunday, Jan. 1, but was found totally paralyzed in his stall on the morning of Jan. 2, and had to be euthanatized.

Besides News Reporter, five other horses were showing signs of infection by Thursday, Jan. 5, and were moved into isolation, while the rest of the horses in Barn 5 (News Reporter’s barn) were put under a “Hold” order by the MDA and are not being allowed to leave the track. They can do their daily work, but not at the same time as other horses