FLORENCE, Ky. - Dozens of thoroughbreds that had been confined for nine days because a strain of equine herpes was found in three horses at Turfway Park were being allowed to resume training Thursday.

The third case of equine herpes, a potentially fatal neurological-respiratory disorder, was confirmed March 15 in one barn at the track, and the horses stabled there had not left the barn since.

Other than training, the horses will remain in the barn until April 5, when a 21-day quarantine ends, as long as no more cases surface.

The horses will go to the track after regular training hours, Turfway Park President Bob Elliston said Wednesday.

Since the quarantine was imposed, blood samples from three horses in other barns were sent to the Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center in Lexington to be tested for equine herpes after those horses' temperatures spiked - one symptom of the disease - but came back negative, Elliston said.

No horses in Barn 15 have exhibited high temperatures since the last horse was diagnosed, he said.

The first two horses diagnosed with the disorder were sent to a clinic and have not returned to the track.

Elliston estimated 65 to 70 horses remain in the barn, after one stable was cleared to relocate to an isolated training facility in Ohio.

Elliston said the working team - which includes track management and state agriculture, Gluck and racing commission officials - "has benefited us tremendously," not only in dealing with this episode but any future infectious diseases that might strike a track.

The group met Wednesday and agreed to release the horses for training.

Of the horses missing nine days of training, Elliston said, "It could have been significantly worse, no doubt about it. We had a lot of folks working cooperatively to turn a potential mountain into a molehill."

Bob DeSensi, who trains eight horses in the barn, said state officials understood it was important for the horses to get out for some fresh air and exercise because confinement can bring on other illnesses. He called the new policy "great news."

"Twenty-one days would have been disastrous," he said, if the horses had to spend the entire time out of training. "Nine days you can live with."

Said DeSensi: "I think everybody is taking all the precautions they can to protect the state of Kentucky."