31 August 2007 : MEDIA RELEASE

Owners the forgotten victims in EI Outbreak

As the Equine Influenza crisis deepens at Royal Randwick Racecourse, representatives of the NSW Racehorse Owners Association Mr. Stephen van Eyk (President) and David Reay (Executive Officer) attended a meeting at the AJC to discuss Quarantine restrictions at Randwick Racecourse.

The meeting was attended by Randwick Trainers, Veterinarians, AJC officials, RacingNSW officials and the Department of Primary Industry with a Quarantine plan formulated to be implemented at Randwick as of Friday the 31st of August. Based on the facts and contagious nature of the virus it is most likely that all 700 horses stabled at Randwick Racecourse will contract EI in the coming weeks.

From the advice given at the meeting from veterinarians, the implications of having a horse contracting the virus and continuing to be stabled at Randwick, is both a severe financial blow to the Owner, and the health of the horse. Once a horse contracts the virus it is has to be given at least a month off work and then a further month of light work before it is able to be stepped up to fast work, according to veterinarians present. If a trainer deviated from the advice given by veterinarians, once a horse contracted the virus the likelihood of secondary infections and health problems are severely increased. In any case with this severe disruption to the horse’s campaign and the nature of the virus once the quarantine restrictions are lifted it is likely the horse will need to be spelled, not having the opportunity to race and earn prize money.

For the Racehorse Owners this spells more troubled times as they are forced to wear the brunt of the cost of this tragic outbreak. In a reaction to the situation at Royal Randwick the NSWROA is endeavoring to reduce this financial burden on Owners affected by the virus by consulting a number of stakeholders whilst horses are locked down in this state. The President of the NSWROA Mr. Stephen van Eyk said ‘the NSWROA will be seeking all avenues to reduce the financial burden to the Owner through this period and we will seek input from our members to ascertain the views of the Racehorse Owner stuck in this awful predicament’. The NSWROA also hope that any subsequent compensation that will be delivered to trainers, staff and other industry participants will also be passed down in some form to the owner during this period.

It was also proposed by the NSWROA at the meeting whether horses stabled in EI clear areas that have tested negative to the virus could be cleared to travel interstate, quarantined and subsequently race at interstate venues. Unfortunately any such proposal will not be accepted by another state and under no circumstances will an EI negative horse be permitted to travel interstate in the near future. All members of the NSW Racehorse Owners Association who would like to express their view are urged to email nswroa1@ozemail.com.au or call the NSWROA Office on (02) 9299 4299.

Contacts:
Stephen van Eyk
Ph: 0411 696 072
David Reay
Ph: 0404 694269