Bad Case Of The 'flu Flattens Racing
Hundreds of millions of dollars lost, phantom meetings, and a former high court judge heading an inquiry ... is it a mafia hit, triad drug case or government scandal?
Nope, just a bad case of the `flu.
Horse `flu in fact, or equine influenza (EI) to be more precise - a virus that causes symptoms in horses similar to the human condition.
It is present throughout the world except in Iceland, New Zealand, and, until three weeks ago Australia. In that short time a strain of EI believed to be H3N8 has rampaged through the horse communities in NSW and Queensland.
It stopped all racing in Australia for a week, led to the cancellation of the rich Sydney spring carnival because of a halt on all horse movements in NSW and Queensland, and ruined the breeding season for the country's major studs based in the Hunter Valley.
The cost to the racing industry is incalculable but according to Racing NSW chief executive Peter V'Landys it is somewhere in the hundreds of millions of dollars range.
The impact is wide-ranging, from casual ground and catering staff at racetracks who are getting no work, jockeys who get paid per ride, trainers and owners who won't get any prizemoney, through to the bookies and TABs where betting turnover has plummeted.
And the effects will be felt for some time to come.
Take Coolmore stallion Encosta De Lago for example.
He is one of seven stallions confirmed with EI at Sydney's Eastern Creek quarantine centre after returning from northern hemisphere stud duties.
The second most expensive stallion in Australia, Encosta De Lago costs $220,000 to cover a mare and he would have been expected to serve between 200 and 250 mares during the 15-week Australian breeding season.
That's some 250 highly pedigreed foals that won't go to yearling sales in January 2010 or start racing as two-year-olds in October that year.
"It's possible we could lose one or two years breeding and it is very serious," said NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald.
Although EI is not fatal to fit healthy horses, there is concern for the foals being born now who will be extremely susceptible.
"This will have a devastating effect and will cost hundreds of millions of dollars," Mr V'Landys said on the day EI was diagnosed at Randwick where 700 racehorses are stabled.
"It is our darkest day."
Frighteningly it could get worse.
While more than 3,000 horses are believed to be infected, EI has not yet reached Victoria, home to the prestigious Melbourne Spring Carnival including the iconic Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday in November.
Racing Victoria Limited (RVL) admits it is still a worrying time for the showpiece of Australian racing.
RVL chief executive Stephen Allanson says it will be another two weeks before Victorians can be confident the crisis is over.
"As each day goes by we are getting more and more optimistic that we are past the danger period ... in a couple of weeks time I think we can walk around and say we have kept it out of Victoria," Mr Allanson said.
But questions have been raised about the quality of the fields with only a few of the top horses from NSW and Queensland already in Victoria.
And many of the overseas entrants for the big races have been ruled out including Japan's Delta Blues and Pop Rock who finished first and second in last year's Melbourne Cup.
The federal government has offered emergency funding to the many in the industry affected and announced that recently-retired high court judge Ian Callinan, a former chair of the Queensland TAB, would head an inquiry into the EI outbreak.
He expects to uncover the source of the outbreak but is unlikely to make any recommendations on compensation.
Meanwhile the racing industry in NSW and Queensland is doing all it can to get back on track with restricted in-house race days.
A betting auditorium has been in operation since last Saturday at Sydney's only non-training track, Canterbury, allowing punters to bet on races run outside NSW and Queensland with TAB and bookmaker facilities.
Restricted meetings are planned this weekend at Sydney's Warwick Farm and Brisbane's Eagle Farm for horses trained at those tracks.
But the damage from EI goes far beyond the thoroughbred racing industry.
Harness racing in NSW and Queensland is also at a standstill, agricultural shows in those states have had to drop all events involving horses, cattle and sheep farmers who use horses to round up stock have been affected, and the Olympic hopes of Australia's equestrian competitors have been dented.
Former three-day event gold medallist Gillian Rolton said the Australian International Horse Trials in Adelaide had been postponed until April next year because of the EI outbreak in the eastern states.
"It's devastating for the horses, it's devastating for the riders, it's devastating for the riders in preparation for the Olympics," said Rolton, the event director.
The solution to the problem, according to Randwick trainer John O'Shea, is vaccinating horses against EI.
Out of the 50 horses he has stabled at Randwick, only Group One winners Racing To Win and Reigning To Win remain clear of the virus because they were vaccinated for overseas travel.
"As they (officials) procrastinate on whether to vaccinate or not ... they're risking our industry and the long-term viability of our industry," Mr O'Shea said.
"The rest of the world deals with it (EI) through vaccination so why should we be any different."
Vets disagree.
"You can vaccinate to try to make sure they don't get it but you can see at Eastern Creek they have been vaccinated and they have it," says NSW chief veterinarian Dr Bruce Christie.
"They would have been vaccinated for whatever strain they have in their country but the strains are just like humans, they change all the time."
The best solution according to Dr Christie is containment, and letting it burn itself out like a bushfire.
Hundreds of millions of dollars lost, phantom meetings, and a former high court judge heading an inquiry ... is it a mafia hit, triad drug case or government scandal?
Nope, just a bad case of the `flu.
Horse `flu in fact, or equine influenza (EI) to be more precise - a virus that causes symptoms in horses similar to the human condition.
It is present throughout the world except in Iceland, New Zealand, and, until three weeks ago Australia. In that short time a strain of EI believed to be H3N8 has rampaged through the horse communities in NSW and Queensland.
It stopped all racing in Australia for a week, led to the cancellation of the rich Sydney spring carnival because of a halt on all horse movements in NSW and Queensland, and ruined the breeding season for the country's major studs based in the Hunter Valley.
The cost to the racing industry is incalculable but according to Racing NSW chief executive Peter V'Landys it is somewhere in the hundreds of millions of dollars range.
The impact is wide-ranging, from casual ground and catering staff at racetracks who are getting no work, jockeys who get paid per ride, trainers and owners who won't get any prizemoney, through to the bookies and TABs where betting turnover has plummeted.
And the effects will be felt for some time to come.
Take Coolmore stallion Encosta De Lago for example.
He is one of seven stallions confirmed with EI at Sydney's Eastern Creek quarantine centre after returning from northern hemisphere stud duties.
The second most expensive stallion in Australia, Encosta De Lago costs $220,000 to cover a mare and he would have been expected to serve between 200 and 250 mares during the 15-week Australian breeding season.
That's some 250 highly pedigreed foals that won't go to yearling sales in January 2010 or start racing as two-year-olds in October that year.
"It's possible we could lose one or two years breeding and it is very serious," said NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald.
Although EI is not fatal to fit healthy horses, there is concern for the foals being born now who will be extremely susceptible.
"This will have a devastating effect and will cost hundreds of millions of dollars," Mr V'Landys said on the day EI was diagnosed at Randwick where 700 racehorses are stabled.
"It is our darkest day."
Frighteningly it could get worse.
While more than 3,000 horses are believed to be infected, EI has not yet reached Victoria, home to the prestigious Melbourne Spring Carnival including the iconic Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday in November.
Racing Victoria Limited (RVL) admits it is still a worrying time for the showpiece of Australian racing.
RVL chief executive Stephen Allanson says it will be another two weeks before Victorians can be confident the crisis is over.
"As each day goes by we are getting more and more optimistic that we are past the danger period ... in a couple of weeks time I think we can walk around and say we have kept it out of Victoria," Mr Allanson said.
But questions have been raised about the quality of the fields with only a few of the top horses from NSW and Queensland already in Victoria.
And many of the overseas entrants for the big races have been ruled out including Japan's Delta Blues and Pop Rock who finished first and second in last year's Melbourne Cup.
The federal government has offered emergency funding to the many in the industry affected and announced that recently-retired high court judge Ian Callinan, a former chair of the Queensland TAB, would head an inquiry into the EI outbreak.
He expects to uncover the source of the outbreak but is unlikely to make any recommendations on compensation.
Meanwhile the racing industry in NSW and Queensland is doing all it can to get back on track with restricted in-house race days.
A betting auditorium has been in operation since last Saturday at Sydney's only non-training track, Canterbury, allowing punters to bet on races run outside NSW and Queensland with TAB and bookmaker facilities.
Restricted meetings are planned this weekend at Sydney's Warwick Farm and Brisbane's Eagle Farm for horses trained at those tracks.
But the damage from EI goes far beyond the thoroughbred racing industry.
Harness racing in NSW and Queensland is also at a standstill, agricultural shows in those states have had to drop all events involving horses, cattle and sheep farmers who use horses to round up stock have been affected, and the Olympic hopes of Australia's equestrian competitors have been dented.
Former three-day event gold medallist Gillian Rolton said the Australian International Horse Trials in Adelaide had been postponed until April next year because of the EI outbreak in the eastern states.
"It's devastating for the horses, it's devastating for the riders, it's devastating for the riders in preparation for the Olympics," said Rolton, the event director.
The solution to the problem, according to Randwick trainer John O'Shea, is vaccinating horses against EI.
Out of the 50 horses he has stabled at Randwick, only Group One winners Racing To Win and Reigning To Win remain clear of the virus because they were vaccinated for overseas travel.
"As they (officials) procrastinate on whether to vaccinate or not ... they're risking our industry and the long-term viability of our industry," Mr O'Shea said.
"The rest of the world deals with it (EI) through vaccination so why should we be any different."
Vets disagree.
"You can vaccinate to try to make sure they don't get it but you can see at Eastern Creek they have been vaccinated and they have it," says NSW chief veterinarian Dr Bruce Christie.
"They would have been vaccinated for whatever strain they have in their country but the strains are just like humans, they change all the time."
The best solution according to Dr Christie is containment, and letting it burn itself out like a bushfire.
