Richard Hannon, whose stable has been intermittently affected by a bug this season, has called for new precautions aimed at restricting the transfer of sickness on the racecourse.
Despite seeing a large number of his two-year-olds laid low with a throat infection in the spring, Hannon has remarkably posted a tally of 103 winners and #1,361,000 in prize money which puts him in fourth place in the trainers` championship.
Yet he thinks the figure could have been greater but some of his horses not returned to his two yards at East Everleigh and Herridge carrying something he thinks they had picked up while standing in the stalls.
Hannon explained: 'Trainers with a lot of horses lay themselves more open to getting a bug, and mine had mucus in their lungs which has been on and off all year. Some of the two-year-olds were sick, but others looked great.
'I do think that steps can be taken to lessen the spread of sickness and the starting stalls is a place to begin.
'When a horse goes into its stall its nose is right on the place where another horse had been before the previous race. If that horse was carrying something then mine could easily pick it up by sniffing the stall.'
