Horse flu has whole industry brooding

BY THE beginning of October, the equine influenza virus had infected more than 33,000 horses in NSW and Queensland, and the number has been increasing daily. For the Australian horse racing industry, the epidemic could not have hit at a worse time.

As the spring racing carnival gets under way, some of the country's best thoroughbreds are unable to set foot on the racetracks.

Major racecourses in NSW are in total lockdown. Racing has been suspended indefinitely in south-eastern Queensland. Racing in Brisbane is unlikely to resume before February. In Victoria, the $2 billion spending bonanza that surrounds the spring carnival is going ahead — but only after $2.2 million has been spent immunising horses and the state against EI. But not even the vaccination program appears likely to stop the inevitable spread of the virus.

To put the potential racing industry losses into context, consider one of Australia's leading sires, Encosta de Lago — the first Australian horse confirmed with the disease — stranded in quarantine at Eastern Creek. Encosta de Lago would normally serve more than 100 mares a season at a fee of $200,000 a mare. If he serves no mares this season, that is at least $20 million of lost potential income for one stallion alone.

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